Sunday, April 29, 2007

Hello Dolly!!


I met Sharon last summer. She asked my company to build a deck on the home she had just purchased. I did not meet her husband at that time. Six months later, her husband Phil called me. He hired my company to put a new mud room on the back of his house.

Sharon and Phil are from Massachusetts. That is a long way from rural N.C. (Now, I have never really pronounced the state name correctly. I pronounce the word MASS-UUH-TWO-SITTS. I spell it correctly, after looking it up) They bought a small horse farm in Oak Hill. That is about 6 miles south of the Virginia border. I have enjoyed working for them and getting to know them. Other than a strange accent, most folks would think they are N.C. natives.

Sharon and Phil have dogs. They love their dogs. They have four dogs. Three Boston Bulldogs and a West Highland Terrier. The three bulldogs are kinda cute, while the Westie tags along with the rest. One of the bulldogs is named Dolly. She is 70% blind. She was abused as a puppy and rescued by Sharon and Phil. Dolly is VERY afraid of thunder and lightning.

Last Thursday by company was putting a new roof on Sharon and Phil's house. Sharon was outside picking up the brown wrapping paper from the roof shingle bundles. Dolly, the blind bulldog was outside with Sharon. I was on the roof with my crew working. We were making all sorts of racket on the roof, including the crash, bang, boom of hammers and pneumatic nailers.
To a little dog it sounded like thunder. Dolly was frightened, she ran away from the loud noise, into the woods. She ran until she was lost. Sharon noticed Dolly was missing. She called for Dolly, with no response. Sharon went inside the house to tell Phil.

At that point an all out search began for Dolly. Sharon, Phil and the neighbor Eddie walked the property and called for Dolly. They did this for hours. They drove up and down the roads around the property, hoping to catch a glance of the lost, blind Dolly. This went on for hours. Again and again they called and looked. Dolly was gone. The day was growing late, the sun was setting. Sharon and Phil were heart sick and heart broken. Dolly was gone.

My crew and I finished the day and went home. I was sad for Sharon and Phil and for Dolly. She was God's creation and loved deeply by her owners. I prayed for Sharon, Phil and Dolly.

On Friday, I arrived at Sharon and Phil's farm about 6:30am. It was raining lightly. Phil was up and had been looking for Dolly. Dolly was gone. Sharon was so heart sick she was in bed, and stayed there all morning. Every half an hour or so, Phil would get in his truck, put the three remaining dogs in the truck with him and go look for Dolly. Dolly was gone. This went on all morning. Sharon and Phil were very sad, that is an understatement, they were mourning.

At 12:15pm the roof was almost finished. I was cleaning up on the ground. Two members of my crew were nailing down the cap strips. Phil was gathering the three remaining dogs to go look for Dolly once again.

A car drove into the farm yard. The driver was wearing a camo hat and a camo shirt. His words were simple, "Did anyone lose a dog?" He got out of the car. He was wearing camo pants, camo boots and a camo watch. This was a spring Turkey hunter. He picked up a moving object from the car. It was a dog. It was a Boston Bulldog. It was a blind, Boston Bulldog named Dolly.
Dolly was not lost anymore. Dolly had been found.

The Turkey hunter was named Darren. He had been turkey hunting all morning. He had been tracking a turkey 1/2 of a mile behind Sharon and Phil's farm. Darren had seen a small, black and white animal in the woods. He thought it was a cat. As he walked closer he saw it was a dog. He then realized the little dog was walking in circles. He saw the dog was blind. He spoke to the dog. She began to shake and whimper uncontrollably. He picked her up and gave her some water. Darren then began to drive the country roads around the one square mile of land he was hunting on. The first road was the road were Sharon and Phil have their horse farm. The first house Darren chose was Sharon and Phil's house. Darren gave dolly to Phil. Phil danced a gig of joy with Dolly in his arms. Phil took Dolly and Darren in the house. Phil showed Dolly to Sharon. Sharon jumped out of bed. Sharon and Phil had a party of celebration with Darren. Bud Light and crackers were the party food. Joy was in the house!! Dolly had been found.

1 comment:

  1. Whenever my son wears camo I tell him he's become invisible. Sometimes Jesus wears camo. Heck, Jesus wears camo a lot. How often does He appear and we miss His presence 'cause he's wearing camo? He just seems to blend in.
    Blessings bro-Tom

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