Jail Break!

...... At Grandma's house!

The boys and I had driven down to Gridley to visit Grandma and the resale shop in Lexington. I needed new clothes for spring and am always hungry for a good bargin. I drove Gma back home where she told me to go on down to Bloomington to look for shoes, she would be fine, was going to take a nap, don't worry about the dogs. I eyed her, eyed the dogs, and said to myself "Self, this probably isn't a good idea". I'm always worried about Mom when I'm down there because The Pauper especially will lay down behind you, in front of you, somewhere near you and WILL NOT MOVE when someone approaches him. Mom has macular degeneration and does not see well at all so it worries the hell out of me that she won't see one of them and will take a tumble, possibly rebreaking her hip. I wasn't going to go, argued with her about it and as we all know there is no arguing with a Wilson Woman, so I went.

I went fast.

Bloomington is 27 miles away and I made it down there in less than 20 minutes. Flew thru Wally Bird to get a T-shirt (it was HOT down there this weekend), dashed over to Bergners and sprinted thru their shoe department, back into the car and on the road in record time. I called Mom to check in and let her know I was on my way home. Fast. She laughed, said not to hurry, she was just letting the dogs out to the backyard so she wouldn't have to worry about tripping over anyone in the house. Now folks... I want you to know we left those dogs in the backyard when we went to Lexington to bargin hunt. We let the dogs out at night when we make our trips to the john. We've put those dogs in the backyard when we put up the annual Christmas decorations. We've put those dogs in the backyard so there would be no Thanksgiving Bird theavery. We've left those dogs in the backyard more times than I can count and all has always been well. Until now. I got home not 10 minutes after checking with Mom and there she was, leaning against the fence, ashen, face as long as a county road drag strip skid mark.

"Mom, what's wrong"?

"Julie, I can't find Winslow".

"You can't find Winslow"?

"I can't find Winslow".

Okay well, Mom can't see very well so I'm thinking he's in the backyard laying behind a bush with a bone, knawing contentedly away, she just can't see him and he often won't come when called. (He IS a Basset Hound) I looked thru the yard, called him, no Winslow. Okay, well then he's in the house with his favorite foofer trying to hide it and she couldn't see him so I'll go look. No Winslow. I began to get a headache behind my eyes. I returned to the backyard, all the gates were closed and then I noticed Beauford standing by the drive gate and he appeared to be humming "Ding Dong, The Pauper's Gone". I walked over to the drive gate and gave it a push.... Swishhhhhh.... Open sez-a-me.... I groaned "Oh God help me". The Prince looked up at me and continued to thoughtfully swing his tail back and forth, humming under his breath, no attempt to dash thru the gate was made. I grabbed him by the collar, hustled him into the house, grabbed a leash, jumped into the car and began driving. I was petrified, just petrified. This is farming country, none of the ground has been turned yet, it's all the same color as Winslow. If he had found his way 2 blocks away to the nearest field it could be days before I found him, if ever. Tears were coursing down my cheeks and I drove and yodeled "Winslooooooooooooow.... Winnnnnnnnnnslow.... Winslow!!" Unbeknownst to me Mom had called her neighbor across the road to help in the search and thank God she did! 45 of the longest minutes of my life later Jerry The Neighbor caught up with me to let me know he had just found Winslow and had taken him home. He found the old hound 6 blocks away, waddling down the middle of 8th street, tongue hanging out, tail up, looking left and right. (I think he heard me calling him but couldn't locate me because I was moving/driving the car looking for him) Jerry pulled up next to Winslow and said "Hey you"! Winslow stopped and stood there panting, looking at Jerry out the corner of his eye. Jerry opened the door of his car and said "Get in here" and in he went, exhausted and overheated. When I ran thru the door into Mom's house Winslow ran up to my feet, dropped to his shoulder and rolled onto his side, panting. He never looked so good, so tired, so worried or so grateful. I dropped to my knees and hugged him, crying, nose running, head pounding and so very grateful to Jerry The Neighbor. The gate is fixed and the handyman is coming to put additional safeguards on the closure. Winslow is safe and we are all home.

And The Prince? I noticed the humming had changed from "Ding Dong The Pauper's Gone" to the sound track from The Twilight Zone.