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Thursday 27 March 2014

A Bad day at Black Rock

I don't know if you remember that film but after it was on, whenever we had an awful time that's what we used to say.
 The day (Thursday) started OK with an early walk and cruising from 8am. It took 4 hours to do 11 miles and two locks but I arrived in Hopwas and found our favourite mooring vacant. I was so pleased with Bon as she had been so good and patient with all the cruising so I popped her on the towpath whilst I secured the boat. The time was 12.10pm. Having got the boat sorted, I fetched her lead and called bon to have her walk. Nothing. No sign of her at all. I assumed she had started without me and so walked the way we usually go. No sign or sound of her.
After an hour or so I finally spotted her at the bottom of the field, worryingly close to the mainline railway. I did my usual walking away and calling her but she immediately dived into the trees to the side of the field and that was that. I tried all the usual tricks to get her back but she had slipped into that mad state of mind where humans, particularly me, were the enemy and to be avoided at all costs.
I won't bore you with all the details of the endless afternoon but despite hail storms, wind and almost constant rain, by dark she was still on the run. I was fairly sick with worry, particularly when the trains flew by.
At 7pm I saw movement outside the boat. I made her supper and called Bon to come in. At 8.10pm, 8 hours after she went, my bleep bleep dog jumped in the boat. She was soaked through, covered with brambles and shivering with cold. I was not sympathetic, although I did let her warm up on my lap.
So we will be going to bed shortly as I am shattered. Fortunately I was planning to stay here till Sunday. Guess who won't be running free in the woods this time?!

1 comment:

Nev Wells said...

Little devil, she could not have picked a worse time to go AWOL... It was horrible out there today. I was at Percy and got caught in the rain waking back from Woodend. Still she came back I guess