College Memories

You might want to read the post below before you read this one. It explains why I'm telling this story.

My dog's discovery of an elk leg has triggered a memory from college that I want to write before it fades from my memory.
I was at my first year at USU and visiting some friends from high school. I won't name names (Chelsea and Sheree) but somehow we aquired a deer leg and somehow we decided on a great way to spend an afternoon. Their apartment was on a busy corner where lots of college students walked on their way to campus. We put the leg strategically in the middle of the path, tied white floss to it and pulled the string through their partially opened window. Hidden inside their frontroom we watched and waited. We watched as the students noticed that the large stick in the path was actually a deer leg. They usually pointed it out to a friend and that is when we jerked on the string. Description won't do the scene justice. Picture America's Funniest Videos in real life. A jump and a squeel followed by a split second of frenzy. Even the guys jumped a bit before they acted like nothing happened and continued on their way. I smile even now just thinking of it.

The freedom of youth is knowing how to spend an afternoon with a deer leg and having a great time doing it.

That's Quite the Stick

More Mountain Adventures

Our dog was MIA - long story. I was sitting out on the front porch in hopes she would grace us with her prescence. Eventually she came putting up the street with the largest stick I've ever seen her carry. I think, "Wow, that's quite the stick!" I'm happy for her. She likes to chew on them to pass the time. As she got closer, I realize that the stick has a hoof. Yes, that stick was an elk leg.


I'm currently sitting on my porch. And now the elk leg is sitting in the middle of our driveway. The mail lady is approaching. I have a choice, smile and act like it isn't there or try to explain why I have not moved it. Or tie some floss around it and yank it just when she gets close enough to notice it.

Animal Reports Really are Important

I am home without Glenn. It is late at night. Our dog, Hermey, starts barking like crazy. It is a different bark than usual. She is practically hanging herself on her leash because she is pulling so hard on her rope. I get concerned. I turn off all the inside lights so I can see out there better. Across a patch of trees in our back yard there is a red fox. It is frozen and starring at the dog. The dog is still going mad. I decide the barking must stop. I've heard that if you make yourself look bigger than you are (never a fun thing for a woman to do) that animals can be intimidated. I burst out onto our deck in my best football line-backer stance in hopes the fox will scamper off to it's home. because I am in the light, all I see is thick darkness beyond the trees. I know something is still there because the dog is incessantly barking. Hermey is trying to tell me something. Was there something more?As I stand on the deck starring out into nothing, I hear a woman cry in distress. Yes, I am certain. It was very clear. This is not a good sign for another woman standing alone in the dark so I do what any good Samaritan wouldn't do and I run for the house. My fight or flight mechanism kicked in and there was no stopping me. I figure if I could just survive long enough to get inside then at that point I could figure out how to save that poor woman. So I slammed the door behind me and locked the deadbolt. (Kids are still sleeping soundly and have no clue of the chaos that is beginning to form around them.) I rush to a window that is closer to the cry and then I realize that the cry now has a bit of a barking quality to it. Remember the animal reports that most of us did in 3rd grade, will apparently I wasn’t paying attention when the fox was presented because I was unaware that their bark can sometime sound like a cry – would have been useful information at this time in my life. I look up online to see what I could learn about red foxes. "Often carriers of rabies..." Yikes! I went out to try to bring Hermey into the garage before there was a brawl and a reenactment of the last scenes of “Old Yeller”. Before I can get her into the garage, she gets loose and runs off into the dark mountain terrain. I stand there helpless as her barks run into the distance. My comfort is that when we were at the vet a few weeks ago they accidentally gave her two rabies shots - probably a good thing.