franthewndrhrse | Dog Days

I have to tell you my dog walk story. My neighbor, E, and I took ours dogs down by the river. We walked and chatted walking in the woodsy area by the river. There are trails. E had an appointment, so we turned to head back after about 20 minutes. We had let the dogs off their leashes so they could do doggie things like roll in the mud, pick up sticks, sniff each others butts... So, 20 minutes or so later, we get back to the path that leads up the hill into the park where we accessed the river trails. I can't find my dog. I call her. E calls her. It's not like her to just take off. We hear splashing. E wonders in it's my dog. I don't think so, because she's not a swimmer, but go to check anyway. I get to the bank of the river just in time to see her crawling up on the other side! She is now in the suburb across the river from the city. Stupid dog. She's not licensed for that 'burb! I call her and she looks at me, but instead of coming back, she takes off running north. Argh! I decide, since the river is so low, to walk across to get her. (It's really low, normally, you'd need to swim part of it.) It seems the most expedient thing. By this time, E comes down to the river bank and I tell her my plan.

So.

I walk across the river. It's fine. It's so low, it doesn't come up above my knees, which is good because I'm worried about getting my henna tattoo full of river water (I know, that doesn't make sense, but go with it, it's what I was thinking). It's on my thigh. Anyhoo... everything is goodly until I get to the other shore. Suddenly, I drop about two feet into A Place of Sucking Mud. I had visions of losing my tennis shoes and being pulled out with a winch. Fortunately, it didn't come to that. I managed to get to the bank, legs covered in icky muck. Then, guess what? E calls out. The dog is back on the side of the river that she is on. Oy. She must have gone back over just a bit north of where we were -- the rocky bottom of the river is exposed for stretches there. Not that I thought of taking that way, the easy way, nooooo.

We both had to be hosed off when we got home. My shoes squished the whole way.