Horse Sales, Roadwork, and Our Errant Dog

Dear John,

 

I had plans for today. I really did. I was going to Goshen to check out two more apartment complexes. And I was going to clean off my desk. The universe conspired against me.

 

It started at 6:30 this morning when Jethro wanted to go out. Half an hour later, I discovered he had clawed the mended fence slat apart and was out carousing again. We finally got around to breakfast two hours later after another dog bath, another mommy shower, another bathroom cleaning, and one more load of towels in the washer. After breakfast I went back outside and nailed an extra slat over the hole in the fence.

 

It began to spiral out of control at 10:30, when I realized that the dog was once again on the loose - he'd clawed out the extra slat. Thankfully, he refrained from rolling in horse manure this time. So we didn't have to repeat the baths, cleaning, and laundry. I went back outside, this time with a stack of concrete pavers. The only way he's getting through that hole again is with a jackhammer.

 

Superimpose all of this over the background of the draft horse sale. The town is packed. When I picked Elyssa up today, traffic was solid from the flashing red light east to the sale barn. I've never seen traffic this solid on Lake Street except for the parade on July 4th. It's no wonder the dog wants to go join in the fun.

 

Add to this, construction on Main Street that has it closed from the flashing red light north to the  Save-a-Lot parking lot. I went to the bank today to deposit my paycheck - I'd never expected to need so much creativity to get to a drive-through window. I went west on Lake Street, turned right at Headquarters, right on Merchant's, the wrong way into the bank parking lot, U-turned around the parking barriers, and finally came up at the drive-through. Everybody must have been doing it, because they had the window staffed today. (I could have just gone through behind the pharmacy, but the Fed-Ex truck was there.)

 

So, to sum up: Yikes. But all is well. The dog and I are clean, the bathroom is clean, towels are washed, his future excursions have been thwarted, and the sale barn is closed for the night. The madness is over until tomorrow morning. I think I'll go to bed and sleep it off. Jethro has been sleeping it off all day, poor tired creature. Every time I let him out he goes straight to that spot on the fence and tries again. He got quite upset with me about it this afternoon. But I intend to keep him safe in spite of his silly self.

 

And now I'm going to put myself safely in bed beside the dog. I do miss you there next to me. You can be glad you've missed these last few days, though! I know you're safe and clean and dry. Sleep well. And pray that Jethro doesn't find his way out again!

 

We love you bunches,

Joan.