Wild! or Cheryl Strayed!

Things have been wild in more ways than one. Last night, after I blogged, I went to Amazon and downloaded the Kindle Version of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed, because I could not wait to read her true story. This book is a New York Times Best Seller and Oprah's Book Club 2.0 selection.

Seconds later after downloading it, I opened up my iPad Mini and took this picture of the cover of the book. Then I spent the rest of my evening reading over 100 pages of the "I can't put this book down." I was hooked by the second page. It is a fabulous read and an incredible story.

During the middle of the night I woke up, not because it was snowing again—I simply woke up. When I turned my head and looked across the bed everyone was sleeping soundly, especially Little Debbie. She looked so cute. She was sleeping, on her side, with her head and upper part of her body resting on my pillow, with the covers pulled halfway up her small body and her little front leg was resting on top of the covers. She looked like a little human being and I had wished that I had my camera, before I fell back to sleep. So it's official that Little Debbie has truly stolen my heart.

Early this morning I got up to do Harley Belew's popular radio show The Harley Show, on REV FM 94.3, at 7:45 and Harley's Pet of the Week was Hazel. Hazel is the sweetest, four-year-old female shepherd mix that we rescued from the Kerrville pound, a few months ago.

After having a fun time visiting with Harley, On-Air, we adios-ed each other. Then I made myself a cup of H-E-B's delicious Texas Pecan Coffee. Then I sat down at the kitchen table, plugged in my Nike+ Fuel Band, that I haven't used for more than a year, so I could charge it and reset it, because I plan to wear it for my new hiking program, that starts as soon as my Danner Light Cascade hiking boots arrive, in four days. 

When it was completely charged, I slipped it on my left wrist and then I did some light house (trailer) cleaning until Tony returned home from The Old Timer. And before I cooked him breakfast I checked my Nike+ Fuel Band and I was thrilled when I saw the number 156, because I had set my daily goal to reach 2,000 points. I only had 1,844 points to go for the day.

Before Tony and I went outside to do the morning chores, I grabbed a Baggie and put a half pound of leftover meatloaf and a half teaspoon of minced garlic in it—then I zipped it close. 

Then I put it inside my coat pocket, along with my camera. Then I went outside to find Tony to find out where I should start feeding the dogs.

Around 11:00, as planned last week, Hank arrived back at our rescue ranch, because his owners had decided to return him to us for personal reasons. Hank is our famous dog that we rescued, in January 2010 and if you want to read about his rescue, escape, etc. Please check out my blog archives, on the side bar, to read these posts: 

     1/6/10 Hank The Cowed Dog!

     1/7/10 I Am Sick!

     1/8/10 Hank Update!

     1/9/10 Knock On Wood! 

When the nice man returned Hank to us, he was feeling so terrible about having to do it. Tony had decided to put Hank in the writing cabin's front yard. Hank seemed nervous about what was going on in the yard. He sniffed Tony and me, but his tail was down between his legs the whole time. As Tony and I petted Hank, to reassure him that he would be fine, the nice man gave us Hank's paperwork, vet records, dog food, heart worm preventative, treats, his crate and then he also made a generous donation.

When I tried to give Hank the meatloaf, he acted uninterested. It was obvious to us that he was scared of what was happening to him, so we suggested that we take him inside the cabin, to hopefully calm him down, while his former owner drove away.

After Hank saw his best friend drive away without him, Tony and I went to work trying to distract Hank and make him feel better about his situation. We took turns sitting on the couches, encouraging Hank to come and sit with us, on the couches. And within forty-five minutes, Hank had begun to lift his tail and wag it and jump up on the couches. In fact, one time he got up on the couch with me and let me hug him tightly, for nearly thirty seconds and he ended up devouring that tasty meatloaf and he wanted more. And while all of this was going, I took some pictures of our returned guest.

While all of this was going on a bad thought popped into my head. "Tony, I want Hank to stay here, but something just popped into my head. Hank is an escape artist and I am afraid that he will try to escape to go back home, because he watches the door and checking out the fences. I hate to do this, but I think for the next three or four days we need to put Hank where Bonnie is, because that pen is escape proof."

"Nance, quit projecting."

"I'm not. Seriously, we need for him to settle in first. Then he won't try to escape. It's for his own good. I'll cook him sausage and eggs every morning just like I did the last time. He loves my cooking, too."

"I know. He loved the meatloaf."

Then I chuckled and said, "I know. He just ate your lunch....Okay, let's switch him and Bonnie out. Then we will go to Kerrville to eat lunch and then buy more dog food and get three pounds of sausage for Hank. We've got plenty of eggs..."

After we had moved the dogs, I called Hank's former owner to tell him that we had decided to put Hank in another, safer pen for the next three or four days and that I was going to be cooking for him. And that I would make him my official hiking dog, until he gets adopted. The man thanked me. Then Tone and I jumped into Trigger and took off for Kerrville. He was starving thanks to Hank.

Our first stop was at Randy & Lisa's Save Inn restaurant. The place was packed as always and we got to have a fun chat with Lisa before we ate our delicious lunch. Then we went to the big H-E-B.

On our way home, as we neared the top of the pass, we saw a dog, in the middle of the highway, that looked scared and lost—tail tucked between its legs, too. "Stop, Tony!" Two minutes later, this big, female puppy was sitting on our front seat—licking me to death, while Tony wrote a note about finding the dog that he stuck on a nearby mailbox.

"She's a stray, Nance. And I bet someone dumped her too," Tony said, disgustedly. "She's a sweetheart though and...." When we got back home, Tony put this sweet, approximately six-months-old pup, in the alley between Miranda Lambert and Merlin. Then we drove up to the house, to quickly unpack the groceries and I took this picture of Hank's sausage, before we went back outside to go feed and water her and take pictures, of this stray that I've named Cheryl Strayed, in honor of the fabulous author of Wild. 

When we got to Cheryl's alley, she and Miranda had already become fast friends, which is good, because maybe, after we get Ms. Strayed vetted, she and Miranda can be roomies. Here are some pictures I took of this sweet girl, who was once lost, too. Please meet Cheryl Strayed!

And y'all, that's about it for tonight, because I am fixin' to grab a glass of wine and start reading Wild, because I love strays. And just so you'll know my Nike+ Fuel Band is up to1,760!

Y'all have a great evening!