Noodle Lost, Noodle Found

Nothing makes for weariness like concern and fear. This morning when Rob and Haley arrived at the veterinarian's office, some three miles from our house and across several very busy roads, we were told that Noodle had escaped the assistant who had taken him for his morning walk. Apparently Noodle was none too eager to return to the people who had done the kinds of things those people had... so it was that he took flight for over eight hours, last being seen heading in the direction away from home.

Enlisting the help of a handful of friends, living in various developments between our home and several beyond the last Noodle sighting (in addition to the staff of the clinic), we papered close to a three-square mile area and notified all the likely agencies that sometimes get notified of strange roaming dogs. Kinko's has earned my business for life; they provided color copies of my flyer on heavy duty paper for no cost. After we went through those 100 copies, the vet's office provided close to another 200....

With heavy heart I returned home after several hours of taping up signs. Some four hours later the phone rang with a report of sighting near where he'd been last seen eight hours previous. We dashed over, canvassed and were about to give up again having not found him. The phone rang again and a kindly couple said they had him in their possesssion about six blocks from where we were looking.

I have never been more happy to see a dog. And I suspect he's rarely been so happy to see me. I was knocked off my feet and my glasses were all askew from his kissing and nuzzling. What a happy ending. I am tired. And all this time later, I still keep thinking how relieving it is to have him here. I guess he'll be freaked out tomorrow when we take him to the clinic to be checked over. I'll bet he's sore and tired. I might let him sleep on the bed tonight. Otis may be eternally pissed off over that.

America
I think my Dad is really worried about leaving the governance of this country in the hands of people who think like I do. I know he loves this country. I know I do, too. It is the beauty of our nation that we can have disparate ideas, talk about them, LISTEN to them, work for consensus, meet new challenges---even those our founding fathers never anticipated. I promise to do my part, Dad. I promise to honor those early dreams and your years of service to our country.