The Legend of Uncle Otho!

This morning I got up real early, because I was thinking about going with Tony to the Old Timer, in Medina, to drink coffee with him and his friends, but that all changed around 6:45, when I saw Carlton flashing, on top of the breakfast bar, to let me know that I had a new message.

When I pressed his button, I hear a woman say, "Hello, this is Rita, the head nurse on duty at the %#$@ Hospital, in San Antonio. I apologize for calling at 1:15, in the morning, but we have an emergency and we are hoping that you can help us. Please call me back as soon as you get this message."

So, I picked up the phone and punched in the phone number and then talked to Rita about a homeless man and his dog. The man needed to be admitted into the hospital, but they couldn't admit him, because of his little Shih-tzu, because dogs were not allowed there. "Does the man need serious medical attention?" I asked, as Tony waved goodbye to me and walked out the front door.

"No, but we need to treat him and he would only need to be here for a couple of days."

"Can any of your staff bring him to us" I asked.

"No, ma'am. With it being Christmas Eve and all..."

Then I ended our conversation with, "Rita, let me see what we can do. I will call you back in just a few minutes. Bye." Ten seconds later or 6:55, I knew what to do, so I picked up the phone and called Paul, our dear friend and volunteer, because he lives in Helotes, just outside of San Antone.

After I woke Paul up, I told him what was going on and asked him if he could go get the dog and bring it out to us, but he couldn't, because he was stuck at home babysitting their elderly dogs."Paul, I just got an idea. Could you give me the phone number of your veterinarian that you and Marty love? After Paul gave me the phone number of Dr. Thompson, at the La Cantera Vet, on Babcock and 1604, in San Antonio, I thanked him and told him that I'd call him back after I had spoken to Dr. Thompson. Then I punched in Dr. Thompson's number at her clinic, but the recorded message I got told me that the clinic was closed and would be open at 8:00. So, I called Rita back at the %#$@ Hospital.

"Hi, Rita. It's Nancy. Could one of y'all take the dog to a vet clinic in San Antone for us?

"Yes, I can drive the dog over there when my shift ends at 8:00 this morning.

That's great, because Paul told me about their great veterinarian at La Cantera Vet, on Babcock and 1604 might be able to help, but I have to wait to talk to Dr. Thompson about it, because they don't open up until 8:00. I'll call you as soon as I talk to Dr. Thompson. Wish me luck!" Then I paced The Cabin's floor until 7:55, before I decided to go ahead and call a little early, in hopes to see if someone would pick up the phone and I got lucky.

After telling the friendly receptionist the long story about the homeless man and his dog at the %#$@ Hospital and that Paul & Marty loved Dr. Thompson, the receptionist said, "Marty and Paul are great clients of ours and Dr. Thompson has just walked in. Please hold so I can tell her about this. Two minutes later she came back on the phone and said, "Yes, we can."

"Thank y'all so much. If the dog needs shots or any other medical attention please take care of it and we will pay for it or we will get Paul to come pay for it immediately and then we will reimburse them. After we had traded phone numbers etc. and I had given them Rita's phone number I thanked her and we adios-ed each other. Then I immediately phoned Rita and told her the great news and she was as thrilled as I was. "I will take the dog over there in fifteen minutes..." Then T. walked inside The Cabin as I hung up the phone. Then I told him all about my morning and thirty minutes later, the nice receptionist called me back to tell me that they had Under Dog and they had already given him his shots and wormed him.

This morning after a breakfast filled with laughter, Leisa took off for Kerrville to get some groceries at H-E-B, so we went outside to do the morning chores. Rick and I cleaned the dog pens while Tone fed all of the dogs and then we came back inside The Cabin to drink some more coffee. During our fun conversation Rick told us an interesting story. "Uncle Otho, lived up in North Texas with his brother Ward and sister Grace."

"Wait. You had an uncle named Otho?" I asked, while chuckling. "I've never heard that name before."

"Yes, I did and he and his brother and sister were hard working cotton farmers. They were poor, had no electricity and they used an outhouse. They plowed with mules. It was a hard life, but they loved their simple style of living and they never complained about it. But, one day after plowing a field, Uncle Otho removed the mule's harnesses and then he jumped up on the back of the mule and rode away without saying a word. He just left."

"Uncle Otho has left the building," I joked. "I mean the barn. You're kidding me?" I asked.

"No, I'm not. He rode into the barn one year later, on the date that he had left, unsaddled the same mule that he had left with, wearing the same overalls and flannel shirt and the boots that he had left in and then he went inside their farmhouse to eat and he never told them or anyone else why he had left, what he had done or why he had come back. Our family calls it the "Uncle Otho Mystery."

"I love this story, The legend of Uncle Otho," I said, before we burst out laughing.

Y'all have a great evening and Merry Christmas Uncle Otho where ever you are!