39 Days & Schulyer

Greetings everyone! I can't believe how close we are getting to Cape May & summer! I am so pumped for everything. Cape May is going to be really special this year since my pen pal Mary and my bestie Malia are going to be there!

On another note, here is an interesting little story. We were at my fake cousins' house in Schulyer, VA (by Charlottesville), to can and preserve strawberries/bake pies. We had a great time - picture of and Thomas posted next to the post.

And here's what happened on the way home.

We Should've Learned From Memphis: Always have a leash in the car
After reading about how Pam & crew saved a homeless dog from Memphis, Tennessee, we should've learned to bring a leash in the car when heading around rural areas. Of course, the option to make a make-shift belt out of a belt and camera strap was actually a possibility.

It was about 7:45 pm when we were heading home from Schulyer (pronounced /sky-lar/), Virginia and we saw a very scrawny looking dog on the side of the road. He looked like he was scrounging around for food. He was very skinny; his rib cage was bulging out of his sides, and he looked like he had white goo coming from his eye.

The instant urge to rescue any lost animal hit us right there and then. How could we not pull over and see if he was someone's pet? He looked like he had a collar. We turned around and we saw some people outside.

Mom got out and asked if it was their dog, but they said no. They also said that he had been digging through their trash. He seemed annoyed that the dog was doing so. Their family dog didn't stop barking at us the whole time. Looked like a jack russell - maybe even a purebred. The one thing we couldn't make sense of, was that someone who had a dog couldn't have sympathy for a lost dog and try to help it. We got back in the car and started driving. I opened the window and scanned the road for him.

I saw him and yelled "Doggie!" and he looked right at me. And I knew from right there that we needed to do something to help this dog. Of course, mom and dad felt the same way too. We drove for what seemed like 5 minutes until we could find a plalce to stop on the side of the road.

We sat there for a few minutes. A lot of what if's, were tossed around.
"What if he has fleas?"
"Yeah, but what if he gets run over"
"We would all get fleas"
"But he'll end up getting hit by a car"
"The last thing we need is to get fleas"
"BUT HE'S GOING TO GET HIT BY A CAR!"

We then decided that we couldn't continue so we turned around. We found a drive way not too far from where we saw Schulyer (Yes, I had already named him) and we parked. We all got out of the car, started calling for the dog, whistling, clapping, etc. But no sign.

I knew from the way that Schulyer looked at me, he was obviously someone's pet. We called our family friends, with whom we were with earlier, to see if they knew the dog They told us that it was one of their neighbor's pets, so we felt somewhat relieved. But then again, he looked so skinny and helpless. He just had one of those "please help me" looks on his face.

But knowing that he was someone's pet, we couldn't take him. Of course the mystery still remains as to whether he is someone's pet.

Then another part of the party left around 10 pm that night and saw him wondering on the road. Clearly, not having found his way back home.

The saga may continue....