Sahne is a hyper dog to have in bed. While she sleeps peacefully, once she is awake, she just wants to lick me and play. She couldn't wait to go on her sunrise walk.
Today's walk was short, a mere 1.7 miles in a very light drizzle. After the walk I let Sahne back into the house. The nice thing about her is that she never fights me. She always goes back to her pack willingly.
My plan today was to look for Gretchen in the area she was last seen the night before. There were no new messages of any more sightings and that got me concerned.
Susan called me early, worries about Gretchen. She volunteered to help me find the dog, suggesting we first try the Wildlife Refuge area off Mandan Avenue. This thin stretch of refuge follows a shallow ditch that originates in Brown Canyon, and can be used by wildlife to get into the canyon unimpeded. I brought Sweetie along. Having a familiar scent would help Gretchen come to me if spotted.
It was a hot morning. It was 11:20am when Susan and I met off Mandan and it was already sunny, hot and cloudless. The refuge has one mile-long trail that travels west-east through the refuge. There was no water in the drainage, but Sweetie and I walked through the lush grass calling her name.
She was nowhere to be found. After less than a mile walk, I called it quits to go home. I felt defeated, sad and despondent. Why would Gretchen run off like this? Steve came by briefly to let me know he searched for her in Carr Canyon, but all he saw was what looked like a coyote.
I spent the rest of the afternoon teaching myself the new software that the school district has adopted. No one I have spoken to seems to like this new software, and no one has gotten the full training needed to be efficient. This is going to be a frustrating schoolyear!
My luck finally turned shortly after 6pm. A woman named Lacy called to tell me she spotted Gretchen in the wash behind her house off Cherokee, a block north of Yaqui Road and the Mormon Church. A neighbor had spotted her there last night but didn't realize she was a lost dog until today. With a severe storm forecasted to come in by 7pm, and dark clouds already moving in, I took off right away to the location.
Lacy let me park in her driveway and walk across her property to get to the wash. I wouldn't have been able to see Gretchen otherwise from the sidewalk, due to the tall brush in and along the wash. Her golden retriever in the backyard was barking at something in the wash, a dark dog running through the tall grass.
I saw Gretchen right away, or at least her ears and her upper head. Thank goodness for those tall shepherd ears! I called her name and she came running through the thick brush as quickly as she could, jumping up on me with joy. Lacy's dog barked even more agitatedly, so she moved out of the way to give Gretchen and me some privacy. I was holding back tear4s of joy, which didn't add any aesthetics to my allergy-induced red eyes.
I was so glad to have Gretchen back. I texted Susan right away, then drove off to park in the Mormon church's parking lot a block south of Lacy's house to walk the dogs along the multi-use Newman Trail, affording direct views of the mountains and the dark storm clouds moving north. Lightning blasted through the southern horizon. If I wanted to get two miles in, I had to walk fast. It was just before 7pm.
People were still riding their bikes or jogging along the path despite the impending storm. It was a gorgeously ominous sky before sunset, with powerful orange storm clouds moving toward town.
I got home with minutes to spare. I kept Sweetie in the truck to spend the night, and took Gretchen inside, where she fell asleep soon after hopping on the bed. The dog was clearly exhausted, and not once woke up during the next 90 minutes, as the rains pounded the RV. A severe weather alert flashed across my phone screen, but we never got the tornadic activity that was predicted earlier.
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