Thank GOD for DOGs!

I know it's been forever since my last post. Things have been crazy & blogging became more like a chore than something enjoyable. I wanted to share something that happened yesterday though. Really it began about a week and a half back.....

That is when I had a session to shoot & for some unknown reason a simple action I've performed many times led to my body betraying me: stepping over a picnic table bench. This time my knee popped about 4 times sending searing pain & numbness throughout my lower leg. I was nearly in tears, but I finished my session & came home. Over the next week, I babied my leg & it was feeling much better yesterday. It still felt somewhat out of place & still causing quite a bit of problems like causing me to nearly fall off of a chair I was using as a step stool or when I tried to do anything fast, like turn a corner in the hall, but tons better than after the initial incident.

So, yesterday we had a vet appointment for Lucy as well as some other errands to run. One of those errands happened to be dropping off some books/magazines at the library for their trade pile. This is when things took a turn. Lucy is pretty skittish outside of her backyard. Apparently it goes back to puppy-hood, according to the group that found her, she was along the side of the road & scared to death. We've only had her a year, but every time she's out of her yard, she freaks, especially if there's traffic. I knew all these things, so I had anticipated what was going to happen next, so I was holding on to her collar. When I opened the back window of the Explorer, she tried to bolt out of the car. Actually, that's not quite accurate, when I was trying to close the window again, she LEAPED over the rest of the back hatch through the space where I had yet to get the window far enough down to prevent this from happening.

Like I said luckily I had anticipated her possibly, maybe jumping out & had her collar in my right hand. However, I did NOT anticipate it with enough thought that she would actually carry out such an action, because when she leaped out I started going with her. I obviously needed a more stable stance. You know, looking back it was so obvious what I did wrong. So, she jumps to my left, attached to my right hand, and 60 pounds of dog & I go straight to the ground & she just keeps trying to go. What she doesn't know is she can't drag the, let's just say, a 3 digit number of pounds of doggie mom with her.

Down to the asphalt we go, my knee popping again on the way. My husband runs back over to me to help asking if I'm ok. Through the mind torquing pain all I can say is "Get her in, get the dog back in, in the car." He puts her back in while I sit in the road in tears hoping no one will be driving down it. What do you know, someone comes by. I'm trying to figure out where to hide, luckily they don't stop & it's no one we know. At least I hope it wasn't someone we know, I was in too much pain to determine that fact. After sitting on the hot road long enough to have rock indentions in my hands, leg, & booty for the next hour, I manage, with a lot of help from my hubby to get into the vehicle. He, being the sweet person he is, takes me Sonic to get a drink so I can wash down some Advil. Unfortunately, our neighborhood Sonic is NOT known for its speed. We waited for over 20 minutes to get our order of 5 drinks & a chicken sandwich & chili cheese tots (for which they forgot the fork & had to wait another 5 minutes to get one of those). Finally, we head home & I try to take it mostly easy the rest of the evening.

Today, between the wheat dust & the cleaning dust & my children, I get up reluctantly & sneezy. When I get out of bed I expect my knee to be bothering me a lot, but WOW, it's not. It is still sore, but it actually feels better than before the incident yesterday. I think that crazy dog popped my leg back into alignment! That was better & cheaper than a visit to the doctor who'd probably tell me it will get better in about a year. (That's the story I usually get anyway, and for some injuries & issues, that has been a heck of a long year lets say 11 years with no improvement.)

All this now brings us to the title of this post: Thanks GOD for DOGs. I love critters & would love to give them all a home. God sure knew what he was doing when he created them. Of course there will be the rouge problem that slips through the crack, but people are that way to, and critters give us so much more than we give them. They give us comfort & unconditional love. They can help our allergies. They can guide the blind. They can bring a smile to a sick kid. They can do jobs for the disabled. They protect us. They give us entertainment. They can warm our lap or share a memory with us, and they can give us a good realignment when we don't even know we need it!