Lost dog

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: At about 6:30 this morning, I was still in bed when I heard the thunder and saw lightning. Looked outside and saw… thunder snow. A snow storm with thunder in the background. I’ve only seen/heard this a couple of other times in my life, and all of the times this year. Watched a while, then back to sleep for an hour or so. The phone woke me up. It was Walker, calling from his spring break trip to Colorado. Back here in Missouri, Mazzie the farm dog had run off and a neighbor had trapped her in his garage. She’s really afraid of thunder and lightning. I imagined her, huddled in a strange garage. Could I go retrieve her? Stupid us! I could have brought her home with me so easily…yesterday. But the snow was now 6” deep. And my gravel road wouldn’t possibly be plowed. Who would get her? We brainstormed a few seconds. “Carl?” he said. “Carl!” I answered. Our young neighbor with cattle on half a dozen fields around here. He’s out and about in the worst weather, feeding cows or calves every which way. I called him and he jumped on it, said if he couldn’t get there by truck he’d take his tractor. I called him a couple of hours later and she was safe in his barn, close to his dogs but in a pen to keep her safe, with a bowl of water and a pan of food. He said she snuggled with him all the way home. That’s why we love our neighbors. It’s March 24, 2013, 3:28 p.m. and the snow still coming down.