2002-07-11 - 6:16 p.m.
It looks like we may made it through the day without a crisis, which makes this the most relaxing day of vacation so far. (X= crossed fingers) Not, as it turns out, crises of the life threatening sort, but I did get close to hitting the proverbial panic button a few times. Taking care of someone else's pets makes me feel so hyper-responsible.
Monday evening, we heard a little "meow" coming from somewhere in the kitchen. Meme, the big fat tortoise-shell cat likes to climb up on the refrigerator and observe the world from that perch. But, in an awful moment we realized she wasn't on TOP of the refrigerator, she was behind it. In a little space that hardly seemed as wide as her girth. And the refrigerator fits tightly in a corner, next to built in cabinets. So we work to scoot it out, a few inches at a time, until finally we free up enough space for Meme to jump out. And she does. Thankfully she was unhurt and ready to come out by that time. In order to prevent a reoccurance of this event, I went to the basement and found some scraps of lumber that I wedged into the space. And hope I remember to tell our friends why there are 2x4s on their refrigerator.
Tuesday, there was a big rainstorm and the power went out. We were sitting around with all the nervous critters, starting to sweat, and facing the prospect of an evening without light, cooked food, hot water,entertainment, or (worst of all) air conditioning. The rain was blowing too hard to even have a window open. We were trying to think positive, trying to convince ourselves that it would be back on soon. But we really had no idea what you are supposed to do when power goes off in the country. Were we supposed to call somebody? Finally I ventured in to town to see what I could find out about the local electrical service. Very luckily, I came upon the electric company guys working on the power lines, and stopped to ask them what was going on. They were on it. Whew.
(I am the designated small-town ambassador when we encounter rural america. Since I am a native, I still to some extent, speak the language.)
The third and biggest crisis happened yesterday. We had planned a "field trip" to various points of interest, which required a long day of driving. (Things are not close together here.) We left on a hot, bright sunny day, but as we were on our way back, the clouds began to gather again and another storm broke out. Only we were an hour of curvy, hilly mountain roads away, and the dogs were outside.
We opened the front door and found one of the dogs inside. Puzzled, we began to look for the others. And found, to our horror, the source of their entrance. Frightened by the storm, the dogs had tried to get in by diving through a window. A basement window... covered by screen and glass.....five feet above the floor. Devi, the youngest dog, seemed fine, but in the basement we found Tsegi, the crippled old dog, lying in a pool of water, broken glass and tangled screen.
OH. MY. GOD.
Cody the other old dog was still outside, looking like she might try to follow suite so I ran up to get her in while Skootie carried Tsegi upstairs... just ran up the stairs with the heavy dog, too scared to even notice the weight. Amazingly, the old dog had struggled to her feet after being freed from the screen, but seemed unsteady. Frightened that she was hurt....not really knowing enough to tell.... we decided to call our friends. The call you never want to have to make: IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, CALL... But as the old dog stretched out on the rug and closed her eyes, all I could think of was how I didn't want her to leave the earth this way. Without her people. Because of something frightening and traumatic.
So our friend came right away, and examined her pet with practiced hands. Got her up and walking. And said no, I don't think anything is broken. I helped clean up and block the broken window. OK.
I am so thankful it was not the disaster it could have been. And so appreciative of the way C handled the crisis. So cool headed, without blaming us. Most people seem to have to have someone to blame when things go wrong, and we certainly felt responsible. But she just said: who would have thought they would try that?
So, no crisis today, and old Tsegi is still getting around.
Touristy stuff still to come.
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