March Update

It's been a hard days night

And Jack was working like a dog!

But let me start at the beginning. The week of February 25th was a long week as I (Calvin) had to attend his company's National Conference on Clearwater Beach. Even though it was "near home" I stayed at the hotel (The new SandPearl Resort) the entire week. The restaurant at the hotel has been getting rave reviews and Monday night we had a senior management dinner in the restaurant and it was outstanding. So I made the dinner reservation there for our anniversary. Well, Saturday was our 33rd anniversary and I played hookie from the conference's evening festivities to take Priscilla out to dinner.

Well, we had a wonderful dinner that Saturday night - appetizer, salad, entree - with each dish worthy of an Iron Chef type of presentation and flavor. Priscilla was blown away. And it got even better. The chef came out at the end with a dessert plate with chocolate cake, chocolate covered strawberries, truffles and other good stuff with a hand written message in chocolate on the plate that said "Happy 33rd Anniversary!" What a great surprise! That and the champagne at the end of the dinner was a perfect evening.

Then we headed home not expecting anything......

We had been gone from 6:30 PM to about 11:00 PM and the dogs were in great need of relief. So when we got home we let them out to pee. Well, Jack (our 2 year old Jack Russell) saw a cat laying in a neighbor's yard and took off chasing it. He wasn't on a leash. Well, I took off after Jack and had no idea where he went. I walked around our neighborhood calling for him (bear in mind it is now about 11:30 PM) and Priscilla was doing the same. He was no where to be found. I even got on my bike to travel faster and cover more turf.

After several minutes of frustration, we walked down the alley that divides our block and heard a dog barking faintly. Our neighbor was out walking her dog then and I said that I think Jack is in her back yard. So I went in their back yard and the barking got louder. I walked around until I discovered that it was coming from under their workshop. As I got there, I could tell that Jack was under the building barking like crazy. Finally, our neighbors brought some flashlights and I could see that Jack had trapped an opossum under the shed. The 'possum was growling and Jack was just standing there - not backing down. In a few minutes, all our neighbors were in the back yard (from three other houses around us - there was lots of yelling) and everyone was trying to help. There was no way to get Jack out! Suddenly, there was a commotion under the shed and they were fighting. We couldn't tell if Jack or the opossum was winning. All the adults were hysterical! Lots of yelling etc. Then it got quiet. When we looked under the shed, Jack was standing there panting and the opossum was "playing possum."

We kept trying to coax him out but Jack knew he wasn't dead. So he stayed there. After many many minutes, the opossum "woke up" and there was barking again. They moved around under the floor of the shed and we were all still trying to coax Jack out. Priscilla, who was probably the most hysterical, had a brilliant idea and called our son Scott. She told him the situation and he came home from work and soon became the hero. He got out our blower and pointed it under the shed. The first attempt didn't do much. But he got to a position that was closer to Jack and the Possum and then the Possum got spooked and ran out from under the shed. Well, that was when Jack got him and killed the possum. Even though the animal was as big or bigger than Jack, his instincts took over and he had killed it. Scott and I found Jack standing over the beast behind the shed and I handed the light to Scott while I picked Jack up and got him away from the possum.

Well, by now, the husband neighbor and I had gotten pretty skinned up poking at the possum under the shed and I was bleeding all over the place. And I was still in my good slacks and shirt from dinner! So we all quickly said thank yous and headed home. Scott was truly the hero and saved the day. But by now it was 12:30 AM and we were all exhausted. But the night wasn't over. Jack was filthy so Priscilla gave him a bath in our bathtub and after that she did and then I did. so by 2:00 AM we finally got to bed.

Fortunately, Jack didn't get all cut up, the possum got the worst of it. But he'd somehow got a little scrape on his face but it wasn't bleeding profusely or anything. He has had all his shots so we really didn't do the Vet thing or anything. And Jack has been fine ever since.

It is amazing to me that this little terrier can have such a split personality! He is such a lover at home. Loves attention. Wants to please. Just a great companion. But when he sees another animal (cat or wild thing) he goes into attack mode and is a bull dog that doesn't quit!

So that was our memorable anniversary evening. We sure were expecting a calm return home and then all hell broke loose.

So compared to anything else that happened in February, I can't remember anything because of this! Hope you never have to go through anything like it. So all I can say is "Happy Anniversary Priscilla!" Have a great month.

Calvin & Priscilla