As I've said before, while my wife (www.brittanypowell.com) is out of town at an artist residency (www.calderaarts.org) , I'm watching a manly movie every night.
I missed my wife and dog and decided to drive out over the snowy and icy Santiam pass to visit.
Here:
Snowy, icy, windy, and cold.
Well I showed up, got the hugs and kisses and licks and unpacked my truck into Brittany and Gretta'a A-Frame, take off my boots and started to trade stories about this-and-that what has happened here and at home. Britt had mentioned that there was a juvenile bobcat running around terrorizing humans and animals alike, so, we're standing there talking and I see something moving across the stream behind the little hut, I say "what's that?" Britt says "THATS THE MISSING DOG! PORTER OR PALMER, WE HAVE TO GO GET HIM!" so we both rush to the door, Britt starts putting on the big boots and I say "THOSE ARE MY BOOTS!" and so she gets her own, and we go running out the door, I grab Gretta's leash and a handful of kibble from the feedbag. We get across the stream (by way of bridge, 200m away) and Britt and I split up and we're shouting "PAL-MERR! PORRR-TERR! C'MERE PUP!" and whistling like we do when we're calling after Gretta (it might work). Well, after 5 or 10 minutes of this, I don't see any fresh tracks in the snow so we turn back and I say to her "my goal this weekend is to find that dog."
i will edit this image to remove the phone numbers
This is the post from craigslist. Apparently the owner was knocked out in a car accident, the windows were broken, and the dog was nowhere to be found when she came-to. Britt and the Caldera people were alerted that the dog was loose and there were people searching for days. I was told that it was also on channel 3.
Fast forward an hour and a small lunch later, I'm asleep napping with Gretta when Britt says "THERE HE IS AGAIN" and I sleepily reply
"do i have to go get him?"
and I realize, get up, put on my boots, grab a handfull of kibble, the leash, and take off down the road to the bridge. I get to the other side and start yelling (nicely) "PORRRTERRR! PALLLMERRR!" and I see him 300m away, so I take off, in my slip on muck boots with a handfull of kibble, the leash around my neck and the snow falling gently and he takes off in the opposite direction. shit. I'm still running, this big black dog, blending into the background of trees gets out of sight. I keep running down the road and I see his tracks (he'd obviously been moving a lot that day), so I follow. I get up the hill to the next camp and figure out he's staying under a cabin for shelter. I call out to him nicely and he's a bit skittish, but he's nice. I split the kibbles into either hand and he comes over. I offer a half handfull and he's mine. His collar and leash are still connected and caked in icy snow. This guy's lucky he's got such a thick coat because it's cold in the day and colder at night.
was not wearing this coat when I got him
Gave him a few cups of food, a few bowls of water, contacted the owners, the "grandmother" and "grandfather" came to pick up, photos were taken, hands were shaken.
Obviously in the grand scheme of things going on right now this is a minor happening. I only hope that everyone has the luck and fortunate circumstances that I do and can do good.