In the Event of an Emergency

You have all seen or heard of those stories where someone acted in an emergency situation and they say they didn't even think about it, they just did it. I've always wondered if I had what it takes to "just do it" if the occasion presented itself. Now I have an answer. It's exactly true, you just do it. It's like your watching someone else, someone cool, calm, and collected take control and your just watching thinking holy shit their doing everything right.

Sadie fell through the ice today. It was actually quite ironic because it was immediately after Amanda said that in the event of our untimely death she would take Sadie, that I noticed her and Kort wandering over by the cliff that precedes the river. We called them, and Kort, who is still a puppy, came back and Sadie who must have caught wind of the geese who had prematurely returned, didn't even glance back. By the time I got to the cliff and saw her heading toward the partially frozen river I had let out a number of blood curdling screams and it must have looked as if I had succumbed to an untimely death to my horrified onlooking friends as I stumbled over the cliff and down the embankment.

I believe it was at the point where I saw her break thru the ice that the adrenaline kicked in and I performed feats that I could never duplicate in real life. Somehow I managed to make it from the top of a steep, icy cliff to the river bottom in under 10 seconds, in one piece. I don't even remember touching the ground. Hell even high school math resurfaced and I remembered that the greater the surface area the less mass in any one spot. So as I am laying flat on the ice, belly crawling to my struggling terrier I am thinking, I better have gotten that freakin' equation right! I pull her out and remove the ridiculous coat that I have her in, irritated that it could have weighed her down, and put my coat over her shaking body. As I make my way up I'm struggling to hold her and keep my footing on the icy incline, and by this point Mira is deeply disturbed and barreling her way down to me impeding my path.

Thank God for good friends. At the point where I could no longer make progress I see them at the top of the hill and they too are "just doing it". They tell me to put Sadie down and she makes her way to them. While Amanda makes her way to me, grabs me and hurls me to the top with strength I had yet to experience, Jolene already has her coat off and Sadie wrapped, while Wendy is herding our other 10, (yes 10) dogs.

And when you think you don't have the stamina to run with a shaking wet terrier across a park field your wrong. You only see that your next move is the car and cranking the heater full force on your way to warm blankets and a soft bed. And it's only when the last drop of adrenaline leaves your blood that your mind allows you to think what if, instead of do what. And that's when you become what you thought you would be all along, a quivering mass, curled in the fetal position, holding your precious bundle. And then you realize what you could have lost, and it's clear what your next move will be.