Hide And Seek!

Last Thursday morning, after watching a weather report, I e-mailed my good friends, Pete & Kelly, Rick & Leisa and John, in Port Aransas, Texas, telling them, that they were all welcome to come up here and stay, as long as needed— if Ike got icky! I was worried about their safety.

Pete and Kelly wrote back—they were headed to San Antonio. John wrote back, that he would drive up if need be. And, Rick called later that morning, “Cousin Nancy, Leisa and I are getting out of here and heading your way—right now!”

I then took off for the HEB, in Kerrville, to get more supplies. It was a quick trip. After returning to the rescue ranch, I put up the groceries, and then Hazel came out of the closet, and went to work, trying to make the place look like we didn’t live here!

After fifteen minutes—the dust finally settled. Our place looked like someone else lived here, not us, not Ozzie and Harriett, but more like the Adams Family. Cobwebs were hanging from everywhere, filled with a collection of dust, dog and cat hair, and a few dead spiders and moths! Yuk! So, Hazel went back to work, and Lucky went into the closet to hide from my purple colored vacuum cleaner.

Twelve minutes later—Lucky came out of the closet, and Hazel reentered it. Our trailer looked almost clean, as long as no lights were turned on.

Then it hit me! Where are Leisa and Rick going to sleep? The Space Ship was under construction and my writing cabin was full of boxes and sacks, filled with stuff to put into the Space Ship, once the construction was complete. I decided to let Leisa and Rick decide.

They arrived about sixish! After several hugs, we invited them to go into Outer Space with us to drink a beer or a glass of my fine boxed wine—to wind down. They didn’t hesitate. When Happy Hour was over, we took them to the Space Ship and then showed them the cabin. They were impressed with both!

They decided that they wanted to stay in the cabin, because it had air conditioning and electricity—a good choice. We flipped on the two air conditioners immediately, and then Tony and Rick hauled my new pink ‘Spirit’ mattress from the Space Ship and they put it on the floor of my cabin. I brought them my brand new pillows, hot pink sheets, and pillowcases and the new quilt. They were happy, and told us that they would be just fine. And, to my amazement, Rick told me that he had no problem sleeping on the pink ‘Spirit’ mattress, with white clouds on it, or the hot pink sheets.

Later that evening, while we were in Outer Space, Rick said, "I see a dog over there. Who's dog is that?" We looked, but didn't see it. It had disappeared. Tony told him that it was probably a deer that Rick had seen.

Friday morning, I cooked up some scrambled eggs with sharp cheese, along with my version of hash browns—some sautéed organic chopped potatoes, bell pepper, onions, and mushrooms, in organic olive oil. As I cooked breakfast at seven o’clock, that morning, Rick was drinking a cup of Paul Newman’s organic coffee, while tracking Ike’s path, on my laptop, and giving us updates. It was scary and fun at the same time. And yes, there was plenty of laughter that morning, because Rick, like our good friend, Drew— is one of the funniest men on the planet— and would have, should have—been a comedian.

Following breakfast, Aaron came inside the trailer, to tell us that there was a dog, on top of the mountain, behind our trailer barking! Tony grabbed our binoculars, and Rick went to the cabin to get his. We all took turns with the binoculars, to see the dog on top of the mountain. It sounded scared and looked real skinny! “Poor dog,” Tony said. “I bet someone (he used another few descriptive words) dumped that poor dog out.”

We agreed with Tony's assessment. Then we all started whistling, and calling for the dog to come down. It would bark back at us, and then go hide behind a tree or a bush. It was definitely scared of us and had every right to be. Why should it trust any human—after being dumped.

Aaron then took off in Kermit, to get some canned and dry dog food, and when he returned, he went behind our trailer and climbed a little ways up the steep mountain, where he left a dish of dog food—hoping the dog would eventually come down and eat it.

We couldn’t get up to the top of the mountain, because we were too O.L.D., it was too steep, and the road had washed out years ago. We went outside three or four more times during that day to call to the dog. By five o’clock, we spotted the dog near the back of Tony’s garden, but it wouldn’t come to us when we called, instead, it would run off to hide. It was so sad.

Later that evening, Leisa and Rick saw the poor dog go under my cabin to hide. So, Tony put a bucket of water and a pan of dog food near the cabin, and then he walked away.

The next morning, to our surprise...

To be continued tomorrow...