A poem-story about some unexpected visitors when we were watching the grandkids (three year old 'Frog' and 1 year old 'Bird') -
In retrospect, Frog’s words
were a foreshadowing, when she
declared Deuce is coming over,
causing me to whip my head up
from the sandbox in surprise
only to see she simply meant
the dog was running alongside the fence
keeping parallel with us while
still safely ensconced in his yard
like always
ah, not.
Right that very moment,
that big ol’ lumbering dog
found a hole in the fence
from where a previous storm
had sent sailing a big ol’ branch
and busted off the picket
unbeknownst to us,
meaning,
hello,
open season,
the neighbors' dogs can
jump through the fence
and join us in the sandbox!
ah, not.
Frog screamed in terror and
I surely wanted NOT to be
the adult in charge.
Deuce is a very big dog.
To date, our entire relationship
has been across the fence
from one another.
All at once, here he was,
running to us, barking excitedly
I scooped up Frog, holding
her close, hurrying away, and
speaking soothingly to Frog,
saying he's a nice dog (I prayed)
Deuce paused for a moment
in the sandbox and then
ran to keep up with us.
ah, no.
I hurried towards
the house carrying Frog,
while Deuce was
rushing along right at my heels
There was Tony holding Bird up high,
running from the the other side
of the yard, just as surprised
as I by our canine visitor, and
trying his best to wave
Deuce back through the fence,
to leave the way he came.
ah not.
I quickly opened the back door
and basically dropped Frog
into the family room for
safety, pivoting back to Tony, and
taking Bird from him, only
to hear Frog cry out
from inside Oh no Nana,
I have a shovel full of sand!
ah not.
That’s when Frog first lived
Mimi Ingram’s wisdom
Circumstances alter cases -
who cares about a pile of sand
on the rug if no one has been
bitten by a big ol’ dog?
ahhhhh.
I am ‘big dog’ phobic,
but I wasn’t feeling so afraid
of Deuce; after all these months
of being alongside him in our
backyards, I knew him to be
old and slow and calm;
I was feeling scared of his buddy Ace,
however; oh my, different story;
he barks so loudly, and
the owners take him for walks
with a thick chain to rein him in.
ah, no.
Yes, as I hurried to get the
girls inside the house, it was Ace
that was sending shivers
up my spine. In the tumult,
my eyes searched for
this second dog - was he
going to follow Deuce through
the opening in the fence?
ah, no, please, no.
I heard Ace barking loudly, and
then I saw - Ace was sporting
a cone around his head!
Which was bad for him
and great for us at this
particular moment - Ace
couldn’t quite fit,
couldn’t wedge himself
through the opening.
ah, thank goodness.
Hearing all the commotion,
their owner was out back, too,
making apologies for Deuce
slipping into our yard
and praising his sweetness,
his good nature - Deuce loves
children and simply wanted
to be friends. She and Tony chatted
while he repaired the fence
with a spare picket from our garage;
the girls and I watched in
safe fascination from the
family room window.
ah, yes!
Frog wanted to know,
why did Deuce want
to be our friend? My answer
was a bit of mind-reading,
I suppose he likes seeing
us play and decided to get
right with us.
I must say,
from my perspective,
Deuce is a better
acquaintance
than friend.
Just sayin’
__________________
It's Tuesday and I am participating in the
Slice of Life.
of teacher-writers!