Dorcas Annette Walker

The Walker family

 

Our hot and dry summer (talk about a crazy year- this spring saw record lows with the April freeze) set record high temperatures for this part of the country. A slow lowering of temperature at night with my river birch trees along my driveway dropping their leaves is the only hint that autumn is just around the corner. Due to the lack of rain we probably won’t be seeing the brilliant fall leaves that usually grace the Cumberland Plateau Mountains. Most of my flower beds look wilted despite my efforts at watering to keep them alive. Only the sturdy black-eyed-Susan’s along the roadside blaze with yellow color- the Joe Pyle weed, daisies, tiger lilies, butterfly flowers, and Queen Ann’s lace blooms have faded in the heat. Soon the goldenrod will open up. I’ve had to fill up my goldfish pond several times much to my bull frog’s delight. Meanwhile the rest of the animals doze in the shade during the day appearing lifeless until evening.

The Cookeville newspaper, Herald-Citizen, has started using my Creative Mountain Cookin column in their Friday lifestyle edition. It has been exciting to get feedback from different ones about my recipes. Physically I am beginning to slowly have more good days versus bad ones. There have been weeks when it has pushed my endurance just to write another column, but it also has helped to keep me returning to my computer keyboard when I would be tempted to give up writing all together.

 

I’d like to introduce, Lucy Lou, who entered our family after the sudden death of Leo. I had spent another painful day in bed with Leo keeping me company. Dana had come home from work and was up on the roof shingling when I let Leo out for a quick run. I decided to try and get a couple shots of my cats again. Eloise especially is hard to photograph as she moves so fast. It couldn’t have been ten minutes when I realized that I needed to check on Leo and bring him inside again as he had a bad habit of getting outside the fence whenever he could. As I went towards the front door I heard someone hysterically crying and saw a neighbor teenage girl carrying Leo in her arms. I nearly passed out when Dana told me that Leo was dead. We live on a dead-end gravel road that hardly has any traffic, yet in a split second of time Leo had gotten out of the fence and ran right in front of a car. Our neighbor girl didn’t have time to stop or swerve. Dana hadn’t noticed that Leo had gotten outside the fence either. I called Dwight’s cell phone and asked him to come home right away as I sat in the recliner holding Leo’s limp body bawling. It didn’t seem possible that our energetic dog, who was always so full of life could be gone so swiftly. We buried Leo with his favorite toys out in the middle of our orchard. Our house was strangely empty. I kept expecting to see Leo bouncing around a corner any minute. Even Annabelle and Eloise looked puzzled when no dog came hurtling in their direction. I felt guilty that I hadn’t gone outside and kept an eye on Leo like I usually did.

I took Eloise to the vet for her yearly shot and told the sad news about Leo. Cindy, our vet, after sympathizing gave me a funny look and told me that an abandoned dog, a mixed poodle had just been brought in. It struck her as this dog had been found on the road beside a dog- just like Leo- that had been hit and killed. They were giving the dog a bath and she asked me if I would wait as she wanted me to see this dog. One of the Best Friends Sanctuary members who rescue abandoned animals in our area, Sharon Cravens, brought in a shaking bedraggled ball of fur that looked so scared. The scrawny dog whimpered and licked my hand when I petted it. Both of us figured that surely someone would claim this dog. Sharon called me a week later to tell me that they couldn’t find any owner for the dog, despite the police force checking all the houses in the area and advertisements being put out. She said that the dog, who her daughter named Lucy Lou, was the most loveable animal. Another lady was interested, but she wanted to give me first choice. I told Sharon to go ahead and let this other person have Lucy Lou if she would give her a good home as I really wasn’t planning on getting another dog for my son until around Christmas. A couple of days later Sharon called me back. The other lady had come and seen Lucy Lou, but Sharon didn’t feel that she was the right owner- Best Friends Sanctuary members, even though the get anywhere from fifteen to twenty abandoned animals a week, strive to place these deserted animals in homes that they feel will be the best for the animal. She kept remembering the way Lucy Lou had bonded with me in the vet’s office. We had just received word that Dana’s brother, Robert, had died and were making arrangements to go to Fort Myers, Florida for the funeral. Sharon told me that she would gladly keep Lucy Lou for me if I would take her so I agreed.

 

I was hoping to see Lucy Lou one more time before we left, but wasn’t able too. I figured I would break the news to Dana somewhere during the long trip. Dwight was up in Indiana. We made the trip and returned home and I still hadn’t found the right time to tell Dana about Lucy Lou who needed a home. I called Sharon and made an appointment to go and pick up Lucy Lou figuring Dana would be at work. That morning he unexpectedly decided to stay home and take me to the store instead as I was just getting back on my feet again after being in bed from the long trip. In panic I told him I would run to town first, go by the library, and pick up a surprise. While he was still trying to make sense of what I was saying I ran out the door and waved good-bye. On the way to Sharon’s house I wondered if Lucy Lou would even remember me as it had been a couple of weeks since I had seen her in the vet’s office. As soon as Lucy Lou saw me she acted so excited as I petted and talked to her. I drove home with Lucy Lou in my lap. She snuggled in my arms dark eyes peering curiously around as I carried her inside. Dana looked totally amazed when I appeared with a dog in my arms. His first reaction was no way, not another dog, but Lucy Lou licked his hand, wagged her curly tail, and looked up into his eyes so trustingly he fell instantly in love. We noticed signs of former abuse as whenever frightened, Lucy Lou would flatten out on the floor and shake in fright. It wasn’t but a couple of days though before our quiet dog was bouncing around the house enchanting us all. Lucy Lou has become my shadow following me wherever I go. Once again I have a warm, furry, doggie body that rests on my lap whenever I sit in the recliner or cuddles close to me snoozing when I have to spend the day in bed. Lucy Lou’s gentle spirit and lady-like manners wins everyone who comes in contact with her.