When staying at another person’s house it takes awhile to learn the ropes. I like to help out by cooking a meal and it’s an adventure searching for spoons, spatulas, etc.
On our recent visit to family in Massachusetts, we’ve been staying mainly at our son Joe’s in Marshfield on Boston’s South Shore. It’s a good chance to spend time with our grandchildren Isla (8) and Nash (5). Much as I love them, I need to get up before they do if I hope to get my post written.
They have an elderly dog named Raven. When Raven hears me get up he stands by the dog food tote until I feed him. He needs to go out on his rope in the backyard, but I leave that for Joe. I need to get writing.
The other morning at five a.m. I heard scuffling outside our bedroom. When I open our door, it was immediately obvious that Raven had not been let out last night. His deposits in the hall were well formed and I was able to get them into a poop bag with no muss.
I took Raven into the cellar and let him out the back door on his rope. There had been a snowfall of wet heavy stuff yesterday and most of Raven’s rope was starting to freeze into the slush. I stepped out into the yard to pull the rope out of the snow. I hung it up to thaw and turned to go back into the cellar, but the storm door had locked behind me.
Fortunately I had put on pants and a shirt and shoes, but the temperature was well below freezing. I didn’t think Teresa would hear me banging on the cellar door so I went up to the back door on the first floor. Teresa knew I had taken Raven out, but maybe she had fallen back to sleep. Joe and the kids were upstairs and wouldn’t hear anything.
I started rapping on the back door, but there was no response. I started to consider other options. I had left my phone in the house. The keys to the cars were in the house. Teresa had heard my rapping, but thought it was coming from the cellar and went there. She found Raven outside but no husband. Finally she came to my rescue.
Have I learned a lesson? Yes, life is unpredictable. There’s no way to prepare for every possible mishap. Always put pants on before going outside. Should the worst happen, you’ll at least be a dignified corpse.
... Or a interesting specimen to an archeologist. NOTE: "Hmmm, an early 21st Century Ectomorph, partially consumed by a canine/dog (domesticated companion) as it proved to not be much of a meal; mostly bone and freckly skin. Some facial hair; no chin. Dogs did not possess the jaw power of the wolf, canus lupus, so often left bones intact; this individual was dressed in what appears to be blue dungarees, a Raven t-shirt, and a pair of extremely old bedroom slippers carbon dated to March 26, 1951 upon its 5th birthday."
ReplyDeleteWho knows? From your no-doubt-accurate description, the specimen may end up in the Chicago (or Harvard) Natural History Museum. With a slight twist, the placard description might read, "Man Attempts to Eat Dog. Dog Bites Man Several Times. Man Attempts to keep warm by wrapping dog around his humanoid body. Dog objects. Man and Dog curl up together to make the best of things."
DeleteThis is one for the history books - wherein your posts about historical events should also be!
ReplyDelete