No one
appreciates a camping vacation, including swimming, sunbathing and water
skiing, more than me, but it’s wonderful to get back and see that everything
survived my absence.
I don’t
mean the houseplants or the garden – I’m talking about my much-loved pets and
other creatures.
Each
time during the week that the animals came to mind, I deliberately pushed away
the thoughts. After all, if I trust my
babysitter with my kids, I shouldn’t fret about the animals as piled into the
car for the homeward journey, my mind became more and more occupied with home.
Was
there a thunderstorm to frighten Candy, the house dog? Did Oscar bite the hand that fed him? Did puppy Shadow run away or did Lightning
kitty tear up the upholstery? Maybe we
lost some hens when the henhouse door got opened. Perhaps Jake or Blackie got loose or cut
themselves while we were enjoying ourselves in the boat.
The
sight of our house and buildings all intact were heartening. And then there were three dogs, tails working
furiously. I was the first one out of
the car unchaining the dogs and greeting them.
Each dog checked us all out, making sure all five of us were back. Then I trekked into the house to pick up
Lightning and listen to her reassuring purr.
Next I
went out with my egg basket – back to the daily grind – and counted the hens as
best I could. No great welcome from the
girls.
But
Blackie, our pony, trotted right up to greet me. I had to walk over to our horse Jake, who was
too buisy eating to be bothered with a hello.
Now
things were back to normal. The dogs
were in and out of the house as often as the door was opened. The horses trotted over to the fence to meet
me when I went to pick beans near them.
Candy barked at the washing machines when it was s pinning. All three dogs settled in the nearest shade
to watch me garden. The chickens could
be heard squawking in the coop as they went about their business and Lightning
dashed through the back door to enjoy the sunshine.
Surveying
the premises, we found only two things amiss.
Jim had forgotten to empty a new bag of grain in the feed barrel so the
horses didn’t get thweir ration. And the
horses had been playing shove down the fence between the stalls,” and almost
did. It needs repair.
It
seems so hard to get away when you have a menagerie to care for. We don’t often travel very far or long. We really enjoyed our vacation; now all we
need is to find a campground that allows dogs, horses, cats and chickens,
Wouldn’t
that be ideal?
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