Pack up went very well. I am truly proud of myself for becoming a real expert at this camping and sleeping thing. Each time I do it I find ways to make it more efficient. I did it in under a half hour this time--I think my fastest yet.
I found a path directly to the highway and even though the guy could have seen me, apparently he didn't. I began my 10 or so mile slog under ANOTHER overcast sky. There was a straightaway for what I guessed would be about two miles. As I often do I converted the kilometers that my pedometer watch records into miles for an estimate, then converted the rest of the trip. One of the pop tunes I'd heard so frequently at the many restaurants I'd visited was looping in my brain: "Call Me Maybe." I like the song now and was trying to remember the lyrics.
A few huge semi-trucks passed by. I noticed that the flat beds didn't move out of the way but the box trucks usually did. When I was almost to the hill that I'd gauged, I was a bit pinned against a guardrail as I crossed a small bridge over another dried up river. Just ahead was a large cliff on the left.
I approached it, thinking about what I was going to write about when I finally arrived in Houston. And, up ahead was the answer.
I saw a dark object in the ditch and thought it might be another road kill. The day before I'd walked by countless armadillos, turtles, opossums, deer and even a coyote. But this shaped moved. I halted immediately, and looked forward intensely.
It was definitely a canine of some sort. It's large head watched me. I thought for sure I was going to have a run-in finally with one of the coyotes that had been on my mind these last couple of days, but it was far too large.
I called out and it tried in vane to get up and walk, but it became very obvious that it couldn't. I walked faster toward it and noticed it was a large dog - about 80 pounds - fluffy, with German shepherd markings, mixed with some meatier breed.
His ears went back in a friendly way as I talked to him. I could see that his hind quarters were collapsed in the wet ditch. His front left paw was obviously broken. He whimpered as he tried to move. I ran over and down the grass to him. I was heartbroken to see such a beautiful creature in such distress with no one there to help. I pet him and scratched behind his ears. His large brown eyes stayed focused on my gaze and we had an understanding that I would not leave until he was helped.
I ran back up to the side of the road and tried to flag three cars down. Their drivers literally looked the other way as they passed. I went back over and comforted the dog again. I told him he was going to be OK and that I'd find help. We were their on the rocky ground, in the middle of nowhere.
Later People on Facebook named him Phoenix Wallker
I went back up the bank and saw a mid-sized white truck approaching from the direction I had been walking (north), but in the opposite lane. I waved my walking stick in the air and pointed toward the dog in the ditch. This time the break lights went on as the truck pulled over. Out walked a good looking, gray-haired man, a flight vest on and a navy blue jumpsuit, with a winged-badge.
He saw the dog and immediately began to speak. He said he'd seen the dog's eyes last night along this way and had gone back looking for him, but was unable to locate him. It was more than coincidence that this same caring man would be "brought" back to do what he'd intended to do last night, though he just happened to be coming back from work.
We both agreed that this was not a good situation. The dog had been laying in muddy ditch, filled with sharp rocks for more than 12 hours, through a cold night. The thought was terrible to contemplate. We determined that both hind legs were either dislocated or broken and the left leg was certainly broken.
Thankfully this guy - Jack Hines (an EMT helicopter pilot based in Salem, MO) - knew the Texas County Sheriff. I was just thrilled that he knew how to get help. He tried the state troopers numbers, but they were busy dealing with something else. He tirelessly phoned person after person. In between calls he mentioned that the county had a a no-kill shelter and thought they would be amenable to picking up the dog.
Jack Hines - Hero with a Cellphone
As he worked to find help, I comforted and pet the dog, who would not release eye contact with me. I definitely made a connection with this poor animal that I will never forget.
Jack and I talked about whether we should move him out of the water. But this was a BIG dog. I attempted to lay him sideways against me and he cried out in pain, so I stopped. His ears kept going back letting me know that he didn't blame me for the pain. Jack continued to work furiously to find someone.
I told him that no matter what, I was going to stay there with the dog until help came even if it took all day. Jack looked at me and I could see that he felt the same way. Eventually he got the number to Tastc Shelter and they agreed to send a van out from just outside of Houston. Jack and I both sighed with relief.
I pulled up dry tall grass, folded it and began to put it under the dogs legs trying to raise him out of the water, or at least make a softer surface. Understandably it took a while for the van to get there. Jack went back to his truck and shut it off across the road. While he was doing that, I removed my blanket and placed it over the dog, who sniffed at it and accepted the extra warmth. With some pathetic resignation, the dog laid his head down on the rocky ground as jack and I worked.
I remembered that I had a bag of beef jerky in my pack and took it out. The dog, hearing plastic bag being opened, perked up - as any dog would - and he cocked his head. I offered him a piece. He seemed to have forgotten about eating until I did that. Then he gladly chomped the tasty meat and looked up for more. I gave him about a dozen pieces, but was afraid to give him too much, for fear that he'd begin to get more energy and hurt himself trying to get up.
By that time a ranger drove by and turned around to investigate. He was a young guy, pleasant, and a transplant from New Mexico (I can't remember his name). Once he knew the shelter had sent a vehicle, he took off. Only minutes later the white TASTC van pulled up. Two woman got out and assessed the situation. It was determined that a blanket would be the best way to move the dog.
They opened the back and brought a blanket over. They slipped it under the dog who looked nervous. It took all four of us (jack in front, one of the women on each side, holding the blanket and me lifting the dog's rear) to get him into the van, into a large kennel cage they had fully prepared. The dog was in considerable pain and cried loudly. Still, he accepted what we were doing, and as I got his hind all the way into the cage, I reached out and pulled his face close to mine. He licked me and I knew he was saying thank you. He appreciated all us, I just knew it.
Jack offered me a ride the rest of the way into Houston to McDonald's--where I currently sit, writing this. Immediately the shelter posted the dog's picture on Facebook. I will be adding pictures and a video of this encounter shortly. I haven't stopped writing for the last three hours and need to get some food.
Let me return for one last time to what I said in the earlier part of these three posts...
EVERYTHING happens for a Reason.
The decisions I've made in the last two days set me up to find this dog. He may not even survive - though god, I hope and pray he does--he's certainly in the best hands he can be! - but he brought together five caring individuals who might never have met without him. He enriched our lives by reminding us WHY we live. I think Jack and I will stay in contact, meaning I made another friend of this journey.
Jack was fated to eventually find this dog he'd seen last night. He went by at exactly the right time to do that. He had the contacts and ability (having a cell phone, unlike me!) to get the ball rolling and to accomplish his mission. He possessed a kind and sympathetic heart that would not let him give up until help was found and delivered. He helped ME as well as that dog, because I had no way to do anything but comfort the animal.
Those who stubbornly believe that all the relationships and events that happen around us are due to sheer chance; that good or bad "accidents" alone can account for the results that hold up the pillars of Reality, are cheating themselves out of being TRULY Alive.
They, too, are good people - nearly all people are good - but most are still asleep. Whether they wake up or not, the Universe will continue to be Intentional. It will continue to USE us to discover how we can better learn to love each other and let that love overflow across all creation, even to the teeming multitudes of other creatures who make this world beautiful and worth living in.
If I can bring anything to the waking-up process, I hope it will be something that works just well-enough for me to personally find a more evolved attitude for my own role on this planet, while offering the hints necessary for others to do the same.
I told you a while back that I almost died and that I did see the Other Side. In that Light was the completion of my current mission. It is everywhere all the time. I see it becoming re-ignited in my own life. And, soon, I believe it will fill every shadow here on earth, at least long enough for us to change our ways, and create a wonderful future that our great grandchildren can look back and say they were proud of us for making.
If we stay the same as we are now, there will be more global wars, worse ones; there will be more violence between the minority of humans who consider them the authorities and the billions of people who actually give them that authority; there will be skies of gray, waters that catch on fire, air that stings the lungs.
And - because I'm in a dramatic mood right now - I want to give that coming Light a name: The New Advent. I will use this term again in the future--be assured. I am sure now that I am here to announce it. I am one of many who are yet to come.
You are among them. Stop for a moment, look up from your screen and look forward into the distance... Here it comes!
In this holiday season let us make what is usually a commercial travesty into a Human Family Gathering of all faiths, Even those without faith. We ARE One.
It only takes our acceptance to bring us back together. To love is to give.
Just give all the time...
LOVE in Action!
Being able to see, feel, and act with loving kindness ought to be second nature to all of us. That it is not is both remarkable and sad really. As I read through your stories I am reminded constantly of what happens when we separate ourselves from each other and the world around us. We slip into the phones and television and computers or even that magical separation that occurs every time we get into a car and close the door. Perhaps we should all get out and go for a Wallk. Often..
ReplyDeleteYes. Couldn't have said it better. Wallking is right and a privilege. We should take advantage of both. But then again I am biased.
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