Milos Marvelous Adventures - more

Milos' Marvelous Adventures continued...

Last week, I was off to San Diego (a beautiful city, by the way) for the National Educational Computer Conference. I was set to leave at 4 am from the lot as my flight was out of Portland at 7:30. It was July 3rd and fireworks were scheduled for that night at a farmer's field just above our place - we were planning on watching from the comfort of our armchairs. I had just returned from a hike with the dogs and fed them for the night. They were resting quietly when the "Nose" got a whif of something else on four legs. I feared that pesky porcupine, but now believe it was a deer.

Off he went - no shouts (or threats) penetrated that big head. Into the woods around one of the brush piles. I took off after him with visions of bogs and spines in my head. Dave headed around the pile the other way. Bouncing like a kangaroo with his nose in the air -- deeper into the woods. Now, it is July and you can only see about 10 feet past the lanes with all the moisture this year. I called, Dave called; even Sophie whined - but the boy was on another adventure.

And the search began -- we drove up and down the road looking for traces and calling his name. The traffic was heavy due to those fireworks and I feared that if he did head across the road, he would either be hit or picked up. No Milos. Back to the lot and after a mosquito spray shower, into the woods. We walked, called, and whistled for another 1/2 hour -- No Milos. Back into the van for Sophie and me and up and down the road several more times. Dave jumped on his tractor and started up and down all the paths. Remember we have 140 acres and to the north and west the trees go on forever over the foothills. Was it a moose? a deer? or a skunk (I guess we would know that by now).

Darkness was falling and No Milos. I drove the van back to the log landing and parked -- wandered around until Dave came out of the last lane and we pow-wowed. Finally decided that I would contact the animal control officer, but not much else we could do. I couldn't imagine leaving the next morning without knowing..... Turned back to the van and -- There's Milos. I didn't have the camera, but he had obviously had a party in the old beaver bog. I'll leave his appearance to your imagination -- but he was back.

Since, he has only known the end of the leash and his pen. Wonder how those bird dog training devices work?

Oh, the conference was marvelous - I even blogged it for both eSchool News and ISTE (International Society of Technology Educators - the sponsors). If you are into technology and schools, you can read the entries by clicking on the titles.