Charlie here; daylight is softening around the edges, and dad has crippled out to the sanctuary of the van to hang out away from the madness that is the Casa. I think we all know how long THAT lasted, as mom opened the floodgate know as the front door, and there was a stampede to see who could be the first to inflict soft tissue damage on the old geezer.
Seven goofy dogs, from the tiny Micro Polo to the neighbor’s monstrous hound Victor, cascading into a vehicle aptly named Mini Van Gogh like it was instead Noah’s ark and the flood waters were rising. Any peace that was thought to be gained by a bit of solitude was ripped asunder by the cacophony of canines clamoring for attention from the pater familius, and we, along with the mosquitoes that showed up as reinforcements, were successful in driving old daddums back inside to his perch on the couch.
And speaking of driving dad; unfortunately, or fortunately if you happen to be a certain black dog that likes traveling, another road trip has to be made before this whole Saga of the Busted Hind Leg is put behind us. When dad went down in southern Colorado, he luckily was within forty-five miles of Chama, NM, where he had left the Subaru and a one motorcycle trailer; this trailer was to be there in case someone else might need extraction from the outback, but he never thought that he would be the one being transported home.
While dad was in the ER regaling the emergency personnel with drug-induced stories of vists to ancient Mayan civilizations and an Aztec ghost named Duane wandering around the hospital, Zach took his bike down to Chama to fetch the trailer and drive back to the hospital to pick up the wounded warrior for transportation back to Arkansas. As a result, they had to leave dad’s bike out west in the care of some Good Samaritans who agreed to keep it for him until he could get patched up enough to make the fourteen hour trip back out to Antonito, Colorado.
The plan was to head out over the weekend of the 4th of July, as mom had some time off to help make a whirlwind trip, but the problem is the other dogs. During this week, the area around the Casa sounds like a war zone with all of the fireworks going off, and Mia and Claire are NOT cool with that. That serves to stress and agitate the other dogs, and bad things can and have happened as a result.
So we’re not exactly sure how this is all going to go down; dad did order a trailer hitch for the van so he could drive it out there instead of the five-speed Subie, using the cot in the back to take frequent breaks, and Fletch has agreed to help him install it.
All of this is predicated on the results of the doctor visit on Monday, when dad is supposed to come out of the cast and go into a walking boot, so there’s that to consider as well. The ancient Chinese had a curse, “may you live in interesting times”, but we like to think of it as a blessing; it’s never boring around the Casa!
See you on the road…(maybe).
