Many happy returns

Normally I like to do my yardwork with the headphone radio set on and tuned to the local talk radio station. It helps to keep the drudgery of mowing, trimming, etc. to a minimum and helps keep me concentrated on the tasks at hand. For some reason, while performing the weed whacking last Saturday, I looked up and saw a young woman in a SUV driving slowly past my house and waving her hand out the window in an attempt to get my attention. I walked over to her car and she told me she was looking for her lost dog. She told me how whe had just adopted the lab / border collie mix from a high kill shelter in Ohio and drove it all night to her parents house just down the block from me. The dog got spooked, broke leash and ran into the nearby woods where it hid, frightened and hungry. She had spent the afternoon trying to catch the animal, but to no avail.

Her story touched me, and I took her card with her contact info and wished her good luck.

I saw her dog yesterday morning; hanging at the edge of the woods just across the street from the woman's home; frightened, hungry and confused. It ran into the woods as I approached with my dog and I saw it jogging into the trees, while stopping to glance back at me a couple times. I called her and reported that he was still around, wanting to trust but afraid to. I gave her some advice and hoped for the best.

I got a call from the young lady this morning with good news. Last night, she set up a trail of food that led from the woods where the dog was hiding all the way across the street to her house. Around 2 am, the dog started barking at her back door; hungry and scared but wanting in. At long last, the dog has a home. Nice things do happen sometimes.