Has this ever happened to you? Last night, I had one of the most bizarre experiences of my life. It is 10 o’clock at night and I am working up in my office when I hear the doorbell ring. My daughter calls up and says “daddy … there is a bald man at the door”. Not expecting anyone, I answer it and it’s a neighbor who says’ “hi. I hate to bother you and your family at such a late hour but, I was putting out my garbage and heard a scratching noise. I looked up and saw your dog on the roof.” My dog on the roof ? Who’s roof ? Our roof ? Your roof ? What ? After the initial shock wore off, I ran upstairs to our playroom (on our 3rd floor) to see that the screen had been removed (by a child who will remain nameless and who is by the way, grounded). I looked around as much of the roof as I could see but could not see Ginger, our 27 lb. Wheaten Terrier. I ran downstairs and outside to look … there she was, sitting on top of our house. Snoopy would be very proud My wife and I tried to lure her down but she stayed out of reach. Since the roof had a steep pitch and it was dark, not to mention 3 stories up, I thought it best not to go out and get her. Running out of options, we decided to call the fire department (just like in the movies). My wife called and said, “We have a non-fire emergency - Our dog is on the roof”. After a long pause, the officer responded, “Does she do this often?” “No” my wife replied. “She has never done this. Surely, this is not the first time you have had a call like this?” To which the officer replied “In the 20 plus years of working here, we have never had a call like this before” ! Well, eventually the fire chief came out to confirm that, sure enough…the dog was on the roof. I was thinking some fire professional would go out through the window on the third floor (secured with ropes of course) and get our dog. Instead he said, “We’ll bring a ladder.” What a brilliant idea I thought. Get to the roof by ladder. We waited for the ladder to arrive and it was not the ladder I had in mind … It was the ladder truck ! OMG … I was hoping for a discreet, quiet solution to our issue but instead, It was like the 4th of July. First the truck backs up, beeping loudly, waking neighbors for a 2 block radius. Then, they put down the braces so the truck won’t roll over and finally, they turn on the flood lights so now the whole neighborhood is lit up likes its 12:00 noon. The whole time I am hanging out the dormer trying to make sure the dog does not do anything stupid (oh wait … too late for that). Not realizing that to people passing by, it looked like they were trying to get me down off the roof. They start going up in the bucket, which unto itself is pretty loud. Now I start worrying that they will scare her and she will run away as the bucket comes closer. Worse yet, all the neighborhood kids came out to watch, and I hoped they would not see the dog plummet to the ground below. As the firemen come to eye level with me, three stories up, my feelings of embarrassment and disgust boiling inside, all I could do was I give them a salute and hope for the best. The very nice firemen did their job and lured the dog over to the bucket and pulled Ginger in, returning her back to the ground, where she was greeted by my three hysterical daughters … and their friends … and the rest of the neighborhood. What is the moral of the story??? Wheaten Terriers are not as smart as I thought. So I ask you friends and family alike - Has this ever happened to you?
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 19:38:53 +0000
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