August 7, 2007

Alright, I know I have not


This was after I had cleaned up best as I could.

completed the story of my thoroughly muddied Blunnies and jeans on Saturday. This is what happened......

After returning little Jamie and Xiao Bai back to the farm, as we were chatting and driving along, I saw on V's side of the road a small round patch of white and brown, right smack in the middle of the busy road, frozen still with cars zipping by.

Instinctively, I told V to stop the car immediately and I scooted out to see just what was a little Jack Russell doing in the middle of the road! Holding my hands up to warn 2 oncoming cars of the animal on the road, they slowed down and avoided the dog, but when I called to it and started walking towards it, it made a dash towards my side of the road! And that was when I saw ANOTHER dog, a local breed, on my side of the road.

Both are collared. A male local breed and a female overweight JRT. But what were they doing on the road with no owners in sight? We can't leave them like this, the next time they cross they would not be that fortunate....

And as if to add some sparkle to the event, these 2 dogs did just that -- they dashed across the street again amidst those cars which saw and slowed down for them!!

What can I do but to follow after them to find out exactly where they come from and make sure they are safe. So off I am, after 2 sprinting dogs down a grassy slope onto a wide expanse of field that leads to the backyard of a row of terrace houses.

I had no idea about the conditions of this green field...the further I walked, the taller the grass and I found myself at times more than knee deep in the green, on soft mushy grounds. The 2 dogs had bounded far away and I could see them in the distance, defensively guarding the gate to one house. As I got near, both were barking furiously at me, I wasn't worried about the small gal but the local breed looked threatening and ready to spring on me should I try anything funny. I stood around, moving only very slightly, inching nearer and nearer to the gate, with the 2 furious dogs flurrying around me. After a few minutes, when I now stood on the concrete with the JRT, she finally let down her guard, inched towards me, took a sniff at my legs and decided I am safe and harmless, thereafter her whole countenance changed and she was wagging her whole body sweetly in greeting. As I bent down to cuddle her, the local breed, seeing that his buddy has taken to me, also decided I was harmless and came towards me.

Then I was able to assess the situation in the quiet:

Here we have 2 dogs who had crossed a busy road twice, and sprinted across a huge field to this row of terraces. I hollered "HELLOOOO!!!" many many times down the row, knocked on the gates but no one bothered to answer.

Well, the logical explanation is these 2 dogs belong to a family here, but all the gates of this backyard were closed and no one seemed to be home. So the next thing to do is to check the gates .... so happened that the gate the dogs were guarding was closed but not locked, ie, the metal latch was placed down but not locked. I could also see dog bowls and leashes in the yard. Could this be their home? But hey, even if they are so smart as to open gates, I seriously doubt they can latch it back ya??! And no...in case you were guessing, the JRT is just too fat to squeeze thru the grilles.



So, let's try...I opened the gate and the dogs scooted in immediately, drank from the bowl and then rested in the shade.

So, this is their home? But where are the owners??? I hollered and knocked on the glass door again but no one is home.

Then, I heard another man and his daughter coming towards the gate and initially thought they were the ones who lost their dog. But they were not. They had actually also seen cars missing the dogs as they drove down that road, so they parked nearby and came to check them out.



We were discussing what to do with these 2, as we were not even sure if this is their home. Didn't want to scare the house owner who comes back later to 2 strange dogs in his yard! Should we call SPCA? In the end, we decided it was safer to keep them in this yard for time being while we walk to the front and ask the neighborhood.

And it was during the walk to the front that I unknowingly got onto the softest and mushiest part of the field and sank knee deep into soft mud...mud so soft it just swallowed my Blunnies and legs and all and there was no way I could extricate myself. I was stuck!! Panicking for a bit cos I know the man couldn't help me either else he would also be stuck if he attempted to walk towards me. So, it was just me and me alone...but I just couldn't move my legs out an inch! The mud was holding me down so tightly. Oh man...what did I get myself into now??



Well no choice I guess..the only way to get out is to try. I had to catch hold of anything that can give me leverage while I work on each leg without adding more weight that'll push me deeper into the mud. So I reached for the hardiest looking patch around and used that to balance and place my weight while I pulled my right leg as much as I can. It felt like minutes before I could feel any movement in the mud. At times I thought I'm gonna lose my boot inside the goo....then finally....after some anxious minutes, my right foot is out. Now I had to very quickly pop my left leg out else I will sink in deep again the second I place my right foot down. So the instinct was to lean my weight on the ground and quickly pluck out my left foot and than run for my life away from that mud!! I did just that and as I ran, I could smell and see the goo splashing all around me...and yes...I felt some splash on me as well....You can guess just how nice I looked there and then.....

Ok, as for the 2 dogs, after asking around, we found out that we actually did put them back into the correct house. But what were they doing loose on the road? With no one home, I left a note for owner to call me back which she did. Apparently, they let their dogs out like this quite often even when they're not home (?!!) but she didn't know they had learnt to cross the road...I reckon the local breed must have been crossing the street very often now, but the JRT is probably not that streetwise as yet judging from the situation we found her in. She was probably trying to follow the local breed but was confused by the cars coming towards her. Well, they will do that no longer now after this warning episode.

As for my Blunnies, even after a long hard scrub, they are gonna smell raw and green for a few days I guess. But hey, these Blunnies bring me everywhere and it had all been good fun! I do like my little adventures. Next one please!

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