Every news channel, federal state, county and municipal government agency hammered home dire predictions for extremely severe thunderstorms (with large hail and multiple straight-line tornadoes) for this weekend. Any plans I might have had for the weekend quickly hinged upon the Weather Channel’s coverage of said storms and any weather map I could lay my eyes on (whether it be on TWC or via my Nook Color or my cell phone or my laptop). I didn’t even change clothes when I got home from work on Friday before I finished mowing most of the back yard and the side yard.
Saturday morning, I woke up early (nothing new there) and gauged the likelihood of storms to be slight for the next hour or so. I decided to take Apollo on a Saturday morning walk, instead of waiting for our normal Sunday morning window. We left the house under grey skies and damp yards and pavement. I didn’t plan to venture far away from home, in case of a sudden change in the weather. We walked by some flowering trees and shrubs, which I tried to capture with my cell phone’s camera:
As you can tell from the first photo above, Apollo doesn’t miss an opportunity to stop and smell flowers or grass or shrubs or trees … anything really. It can sometimes be frustrating, especially if I’m trying to actually get a workout. This Saturday morning, though, I preferred to stroll along at a leisurely pace and let Apollo sniff to his heart’s content.
He waited patiently for the light to change before we crossed K-7/US-73 and proceeded west on Mary Street for a block or so. I turned north on a ‘new’ street (which I don’t know the name of) walking towards West Kay Street. Another walker with two large dogs (I think they were a Newfoundland and a Border Collie) crossed Mary Street and followed us. Apollo lost all interest in heading north. He wanted to make friends with the two dogs behind us. I didn’t feel like wrestling with him and he wasn’t wearing the pinch collar that I could have used to ensure his obedient and gentlemanly behavior. So I turned back east on the deteriorating section of West Kay Street abandoned when the new street was constructed. I walked halfway up the hill back towards the highway, then turned around to make sure the other walker and his dogs continued on east.
Before walking back down the hill, I took a photo of West Kay Street, including the house we rented back in 1996-7 before we found and bought the house we now live in. Back then, West Kay Street sported a large wooded hill (now flattened and grass covered in the left side of the photo to the right) and several houses, all of which have been demolished or moved, save for the ones on the north side of the street.
Apollo and I retraced our steps and returned home before eight o’clock. A few hours later, Terry woke up and he showed me some of the dogs he’s been looking at to adopt or rescue. One of the first ones he showed me was a female Boxer named Butterscotch who just happened to be living in a foster home up on Post (aka Ft. Leavenworth). Terry called the foster home and arranged to meet Butterscotch mid-afternoon. I cleaned out the car, not knowing the current requirements for gaining access to Ft. Leavenworth. I can’t remember the last time I went up on Post (years most likely). We stopped at the Leavenworth Animal Shelter on the way north, which should have been open (the sign clearly stated they were open on the Second Saturday of every month until 4:00 pm) but the doors were securely locked. Terry and I got back in the car and continued north to the Ft. Leavenworth main security checkpoint gate.
We handed our driver’s licenses to the guard and he asked where we were going on Post. We didn’t know so we had to call the foster family again and get an address. Once he wrote the address down on his clipboard, he handed back our IDs and waved us through. That didn’t take long at all. I thought I’d have to get out of the car and open all the doors and hoods and wait for them to inspect it inside, outside and underneath.
We stayed on the phone with the foster family for directions to their home. We arrived and met Butterscotch (shown at right). She took to me immediately (why do I attract any and all canines?). She was excited to see us and seemed to have a very sweet disposition. She was a bit skittish towards Terry and submissive to both of us. She is small (well, smaller than a Rottweiler), weighing about fifty pounds. She recently had puppies, but had also been spayed within the last week. She had all of her shots and she was already microchipped. Terry and I got down on the floor and got to know her better for a few minutes. I really liked her. I also felt confident that I would be able to pick her up, should she ever be unable to walk on her own.
We told the foster family we would sleep on a decision to adopt her. I am torn. I think she would make a wonderful addition to our family, but I worry that Apollo will bully her. I really wish there were some way for him to meet her. I wonder if we could foster her for a few days as a test? We’ve never had such a ‘small’ dog … not since Nugget back in the 80s, who was Terry’s mother’s small dog. By the time I met Nugget, she was nearly blind and mostly deaf.
I think Terry still has his heart set on a female Rottweiler. He just can’t seem to find one in the Kansas City metro area. I’m not sure I want another extra large dog. I am torn. Perhaps another night of sleep will help me make up my mind.
Oh, and about those storms. We experienced nothing but wind and barely any rain. I never her any thunder or saw any lightning. Now, mid-afternoon on Sunday, the sun is shining and the wind is blowing. A beautiful spring day to wrap up an otherwise gloomy weekend.
