Well, you sure can tell that it is full moon time, once again. Yesterday, started out just fine, but late in the afternoon—things went south, after Ben went north, to go see his parents, Rob and Karen, in Mason.
All was well, when Ben showed up with presents for all of us! We exchanged gifts with him, visited, and then the three of us went over to visit with Kinky, and to meet Stuart.
A few days ago, Kinky had helped a friend, rescue an adorable little Pomeranian named Stuart Little. Stuart is about ten years old, and he only weights about five pounds. The little dog is adorable! Kinky’s friend had given Stuart a ‘Lions cut’ because he had been full of mattes and burrs when rescued. Kinky told us that everyone loved the little fella—but Gooie. It seems that Mr. Magoo is jealous of Stuart, and Stuart is jealous of Gooie. So most of the time while we were over at Kinky’s Lodge, we spent keeping Mr. Magoo and Stuart apart. Tony and I stayed over at the Lodge for about an hour, and then we came home, so Kinky and Ben could visit.
When we got home there was a message on the machine. “Hello, I have found a dog with one of your dog tags on his collar. Here’s the number. Please call me when you get this message.”
I looked up the dog tag I.D. number—it was Maxwell Smart! I immediately phoned the woman back to tell her who the dog owner was—but I was too late. When I called and told the woman who I was, she told me that her next door neighbor, Evelyn, had just left with Maxwell Smart and that all was fine. I thanked her for rescuing Maxwell and then we hung up.
Five minutes later, the phone rang and it was Evelyn. “Nancy, Maxwell Smart escaped from the backyard,again. I just picked him up from my neighbor’s house and he is doing just fine, but, I am afraid that I am not going to be able to keep him any longer. It is too risky. I don’t have a car, so could you come and get him?”
“Yes, Evelyn, we can come and get him in the morning, if that will be okay,” I said. “I will try to get a hold of John to ask him if he can pick Maxwell up—before coming to work.”
Evelyn gave me directions to her house, and I told her that I would get back to her as soon as I had heard from John. When the call ended, I went to my laptop, and sent off an e-mail to John, asking him if he could pick up Maxwell Smart in the morning before coming to work.
John shot me back an e, thirty minutes later, telling me that he would be glad to pick up Maxwell for us. I then called Evelyn back to tell her that John would be there between 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning. “What time should I get up?” Evelyn asked. “I don’t usually get up that early.”
“I guess, 8:00?” I said. I didn't know.
“Could you ask John to come at 9:00 instead?"
"Yes, ma’am, I can try. You see, John doesn’t have a telephone, and we communicate by e-mail.”
Hoping John hadn’t gone out for the evening, I e’d him, again—asking if 9:00 would work? John e-mailed right back, telling me that 9:00 would be fine.
I phoned Evelyn, again. “Hi, Evelyn,” I said. “John says he will be there at nine. Okay?”
“Okay,” Evelyn said. “Please tell him to be sure to honk the horn, because I don’t won’t to be standing outside waiting for him.”
“Can’t John just come up, and ring your doorbell?”
“No,” Evelyn answered. “All of the gates are locked, and he will not be able to get into my yard.”
“Evelyn, I think John has gone out for the evening by now, but I will send him an e to please honk the horn. I am going to give him your e-mail address, so you might want to check your e-mail—several times tonight, to make sure he got my message.”
“I keep my computer turned off, and I only check my e-mail in the mornings. I can’t do that. Please tell him to call me.”
“He can’t call,” I said. “John doesn’t have a phone.”
“Well, then call me,” she said, “when you hear from John, to let me know. I stay up til one or two o’clock every night.”
“We go to bed at nine. Hopefully, John will get the message, and I will call you as long as it is before nine o’clock.”
Fortunately, John sent me an e, confirming that he would be sure to honk, and I called Evelyn before nine o’clock. At nine o’clock, Tony went to bed, but I decided to drink a glass of wine and watch TV for awhile—and thank goodness I did!
At 9:55 our phone rang. I decided to let the machine take the call. “Hello, I am sorry about doing this to y’all, but I am real sick, and can not take care of my dogs anymore,” a older man’s voice said. “I left them in two crates at the Echo Hill cattle guard. Tell Kinky I love him.”
I rushed to the telephone. “Hello? Hello?” I said, but the man had already hung up.
Then the phone rang again, but I didn’t hear it because I was in the bedroom—trying to wake up Tony. “Hello, Nancy? This is Liz. A man just called here and woke me up. He said something like he had just dropped off two dogs to us at the Echo Hill cattle guard? He didn’t make a lot of sense, something about being sick and being sorry, and when I asked him who he was—he hung up. Call me in the morning. Bye.”
Tony quickly dressed and then he and I went to the truck and jumped in! Two minutes later, we were at the cattle guard staring at two large dog crates. One of the crates was empty—the other crate was heavy. Together, we lifted the crate into the back of the pickup and returned to the rescue ranch. We carried the crate to a small pen and set it down carefully. Tony made me leave the pen, and then he opened the door to the crate.
Out ran two terribly scared, medium sized dogs! Tony gave them some water and food, and then we came back to the trailer to go to bed.
This morning, John arrived with Maxwell Smart! He told me that Maxwell seemed fine and could not wait to get out of there. “He pulled me to the van! I think he is happy to be back home.”
We told John about the two dogs being dumped here, last night, and then we went outside to check on them. The two dogs were skinny, definitely had mange and scared of us. While the guys began feeding the dogs, I went inside their pen to try to give them treats, and to try to settle them down. They ate a couple of dog treats, but wanted nothing to do with me, so I gave up and went back to the trailer.
I called Liz. She and I discussed the dogs, but we could not figure out, why the man had called her, and how he had gotten her phone number—she lives thirty miles away. We visited for a little while longer, and then we hung up.
As I hung up the phone, the Caller I. D. was flashing! Then it hit me—maybe it will have the man’s phone number! And, sure enough—it did! I phoned several times, but only got a busy signal. The last time I tried, it rang and rang and rang, but no one answered.
Just before noon today, Hoegemeyer’s Animal Clinic was closing early for the holiday, Hank, one of Tony’s and my older dogs, got into a fight with two of our younger dogs—over a toy! Tony called Hoegemeyers to find out when they were closing and Susan told him right now. But when Tony told her about Hank needing to see a doctor, Dr. Rydberg said he would wait at the clinic for Hank. So Tony and Hank took off for Kerrville!
While Tony was gone, Carol came out to walk dogs, and before leaving I suggested that we drive over to Kinky’s for a short visit. When we arrived, Kinky, Marcie, Jamal and Goat were outside playing ball with The Friedmans. I introduced Carol to Marcie, Jamal and Goat, and then Copper drove up in her shiny red, little Miata—Ruby Tuesday! After introductions, she gave Marcie and Kinky a little dog bed for Stuart. Then another car pulled up with two men inside, wanting Kinky to sign their guitars!
With all of the people there, Kinky brought Stuart outside to meet everyone. Everyone thought the little dog was adorable, but no one wanted to adopt him, so Kinky put him back inside the annex, so he and Mr. Magoo wouldn’t get into a fight. “Stuart loves his new bed, Copper!” Kinky said, when he returned.
We visited for a few more minutes, and then Carol and I said our final good byes to everyone or so I had thought. Carol and I climbed into the Explorer, waving goodbye, as I slowly backed out of the filled parking lot. Suddenly, our SUV stopped moving! I had backed into Ruby Tuesday’s face!
Everyone was staring at us! I put ‘Buttermilk’ into drive, and we slowly moved forward a few feet. Then Carol and I jumped out of the car to see the damages. It didn’t take a rocket scientist, to know that Ruby Tuesday—needed to make an appointment for a facelift, and her left cheekbone definitely needed Botox.
Copper was so great about it all! She didn’t even let me feel terrible. After I apologized to her, Carol and I drove back over to the rescue ranch, so I could call our insurance agent. I made the call, and hopefully, everything will be just fine in a couple of days. Sorry about that, Copper and thank you for being so sweet.
And lastly—Hank is fine, and he will be coming home on Wednesday! Merry Christmas!
