lately

Have I mentioned that Dirk got a Jeep? It's pretty cool:

We've taken it out a couple of times, and last Sunday we decided to go Jeepin' around and we decided to freak ourselves out by visiting one of Alabama's Haunted Places: Bass Cemetery.

The oldest grave we found was from the 1700s. This place had a totally creepy vibe, and I was really anxious to get out of there. I haven't had the guts to write about it or even edit the photos because people have said that a lot of times shapes and ghostly things will show up in their photographs!

Okay, so remember Indiana Jones? Our neighbors' dog who comes over to play and sleeps on the front porch, etc.? Well, awhile back our neighbors decided to move...to Idaho. A week before they left, Mrs. Neighbor came over to our house asking if we'd seen Indy and telling me that he had been missing for two days and she was freaking out because they were moving in a week and she didn't know what to do. I kind of let her have it a bit, in a nice way, because they let Indiana roam all over the place (we live a few blocks from a very busy road), and he has NEVER had tags and sometimes not even a collar! So I said to her, "That really stinks, but if somebody DID find him, they wouldn't be able to contact you because he doesn't wear tags!" She kind of brushed it off and went about her way. And we didn't see her or hear from her before they left, and we just assumed that maybe Indiana was gone forever. We grieved him, mostly because of the lack of closure, not knowing whether they'd found him and he'd moved to Idaho, or if he was still roaming around, or if he had been hit and crawled into the woods to die. Then, on Saturday, I saw some signs up the road with Indiana's picture saying "Lost Dog" and giving a phone number. My heart dropped. This means that they left him here. Ugh.

Then yesterday I was doing something in the backyard and I looked towards the cul de sac, and here comes Indy, trotting up the driveway. I freaked out and started screaming "INDIANA!" I ran into the house screaming "INDIANA!" and Dirk and I ran outside and poor Indy was a little frightened by our behavior. He came inside, we gave him some treaters, and we came up with theories as to where he'd been and how he'd been surviving for two weeks out in the wild. We drove up the road to get the number on the sign, and we tried calling repeatedly for a couple hours. Finally, at nine o'clock last night, someone picked up. "Brenda?" Dirk said. "She's not here right now, who's this?" "This is her neighbor in Birmingham and we wanted to let her know that Indiana showed up at our house today." "Oh, well, this is actually Brenda, and we gave him away." "You gave him away?! Well, do you have the name, number, or address for the people that you gave him to?" "No, but if you drive up the road, take a left on Old Leeds, their house is down the street on the left." Wha?!

How could you abandon this sweet face?!

So, what we figured happened is that Indiana's family moved to Idaho. Then someone found him, saw the sign, and called them to tell them they found him. Our ex-neighbors must have just asked the people who found him if they wanted to keep him?! And then he tried to find his way home and there was no one there and came to our house? We were heartbroken and had no idea what to do next. Do we keep him? Do we drive over to these mystery people and knock on their door and ask if they want him? After some frantic phone calls to family members, Mama's advice was the best: put up some "DOG FOUND" signs around the neighborhood and if the family he was given to wants him they'll call and get him back.

And, now he's gone again. Escaped through the back gate. Will he return? I kind of hope so. Secretly. Because I love him. He reminds me of Otis. Just constantly by your side. Not demanding much attention, but loving it if you're willing to show him affection. Sweet Indy.