Tag: random

Like any parent of human children, I generally understand what my dogs are barking about even when I don’t see what they see. Some of their barks include:

1. Look! That dog we hate is walking down the sidewalk!
2. Look! That dog we love is walking down the sidewalk!
3. Squirrel! (Same bark as: Possum! Raccoon!)
4. CAAAAAAAAAT! CAT ON THE COMPOUND!
5. MAIL CARRIER COME TO KILL US!
6. Mysterious event. Will bark just in case it Develops Into Something.
7. Exterminator! Run to crate! Treat will be forthcoming! (Also works for plumber, electrician, and Joe My Contractor.)
8. Meter reader/UPS/Fedex has breached perimeter security! MUST BE TERMINATED.
9. There’s someone on the porch! Seriously! LISTEN TO ME NOW!
10. I need to pee and/or poop. QUICK QUICK!
11. Friend has breached perimeter security! Prepare to affectionately crush ovaries or man bits!
12. Tim has a new foster dog!

Thursday, I ignored Bark 6. I wish I hadn’t, because when it was followed a few minutes later by Bark 9, I went to see what was going on. Bark 9 was just someone who’d taped a flier to my front door offering to paint our house or do other odd jobs. I can take a hint. I just can’t afford a paint job right now.

As I was about to shut the door, I noticed a burgundy car blocking a neighbor’s driveway. There are several cars of that color on our street at any given time. One is a neighbor’s. One is a different neighbor’s frequent visitor. One is yet another neighbor’s housekeeper. And one is Tom’s.

The car wasn’t just in the driveway at an odd angle. The passenger door was open. The driver’s seat was pulled forward. The windshield was cracked. The hood was buckled. The front was crushed. I hurried outside to see if someone needed help, but there wasn’t a person in sight. A condo dweller down the street came outside and joined me, and we agreed that the car wasn’t one of the regulars. (In fact, he knew the names of everyone on our street, which always amazes me. I usually only remember the dogs’ names.)

While he knocked on doors to try to find out if anyone knew anything about the car, I did an assessment of the area. No trees or phone poles had been hit. No bodies were lying in ditches. Whatever happened, it happened somewhere else, then the car was pulled over and abandoned. I called the police. When she arrived, she called for a wrecker, then put on gloves and searched the car. Meanwhile, Tim got home and we hung outside with Jackson long enough for the cop to open the trunk. Just wanted to make sure there wasn’t a body in it. (I may have been reading too many mysteries lately.)

I think she found something inside the car–whatever it was, it was too small for me to see, but she sure got interested in it. Later, when Tim and I left for the gym, we could see some stuff including pill bottles in a plastic bag.

I wish I could have seen the person/people who abandoned the car. That’ll teach me to keep reading status updates on Facebook when Bark 6 happens.

That’s the wrecker driver’s bottle of water resting on the windshield.
It was SO HOT, and I felt bad because I didn’t have any bottled water to offer the cop, and figured she wouldn’t take anything that wasn’t sealed.
I put a few bottles in the refrigerator today.
Just in case someone else wants to wreck and abandon a car near The Compound.