Tales From the Funny Farm: Installment One

I have a notebook with a list of short non-fiction stories from when I was growing up. I've decided that each Wednesday (it is Wednesday, right?), I'll add one to this blog. So without further ado...

Where's Jake?!

Every summer from the time I was in third grade my family took a summer vacation. We loaded up the travel trailer with food, clothes, fishing gear, and bicycles, and headed off to some lovely place for two weeks of family fun.

This particular summer was scorchingly hot, and Mom and Dad had spend much of it working up a vegetable garden. We loved being able to go outside and pick fresh veggies for dinner, and we didn't want the garden to dry up while we were gone. So after we'd packed the camper, Mom took gallon milk jugs and cut the tops off of them. Then she poked small holes in the bottom and set them out among the rows of vegetables. She filled them up with water, and the water slowly seeped out and watered the garden. Satisfied with this homemade irrigation system, we said goodbye to our pets, loaded up the truck, and headed out of town.

As with all family vacations, we were sad to come home, but after two weeks we were also growing a little homesick. I remember pulling in the driveway and being thankful to be home. We had several dogs and cats, not to mention various livestock (all pets), so the first thing we wanted to do was check on them. We hadn't heard from our neighbor, who was taking care of them for us while we were gone, so we figured all was well.

The sun was just started to set, so we made our way around the house and started calling for the dogs. Our Norwegian Elkhound, Sheba, came barrelling around the corner, tail a-waggin', as we called, but our Australian Shepherd/Lab mix, Jake, was no where to be seen. We lived out in the country and our dogs roamed free, so it wasn't too unusual for him not to come when first called. He minded pretty well though, so we circled the house and kept calling for him. We called and called, and after a while our calls turned into more panicked cries.

Just when we were about to give us and us kids were about to collapse into tears, Dad came around the corner, cracking up laughing. "I found him!" he said. We all ran over and looked at poor Jake, who was walking around with one of those milk jugs stuck on his head! It covered his whole head down to his neck, and when Dad took it off, his head was all sweaty. Jake had lost some weight, so who knows how long the jug had been stuck. We all collapsed around him and laughed until we cried, filled with relief. Needless to say, Jake was more happy to see us that day than he probably ever had been.

R.I.P. Jake