Today, I didn't get to see Gibby until early evening because Mother and I went to Grand Ledge, MI, about an hour away from home to see and hear Senator Hillary Clinton. There were about a thousand people in the audience, all willing to wait almost two hours in the hot sun to hear Hillary support Barack Obama. The cheers were loud and long for both our Governor, Jennifer Granholm, and Hillary. Hillary spoke for close to an hour without notes or teleprompter, making a very clear case for the need to save America by saving the middle class. In addition to the impressive speakers, the members of the audience were amazing. Total strangers offered to help me with my mother and her wheelchair throughout the day. One lady passed her sunglasses down to Mother, and another lady brought a brand new t-shirt to put over Mother's head to protect her from the sun. A man pushed Mother's wheelchair up the steep exit from the park and then a quarter mile down the road, when it became a steep rise, a group of young ladies offered to push the chair up the hill, and one of them did. It wasn't easy pushing and I was/am very grateful. The best I could do to return the many favors was give a bottle of Gatorade I had tucked into the back pocket of Mother's chair for emergencies, to a lady we passed who was leaning into a tree and feeling ill from the heat - she had been standing for the several hours we were there.
When we returned home, I had planned to go to the Webster Township Festival, which was being held just down the road and around the corner from the farm. Usually at the annual festival I have a chance to talk with a rug hooker or two, see some animals, go into the old one room schoohouse and the old townhall, and maybe have a pork roast dinner. Mother was worn out, so I went down to the festival alone, planning to pick up a couple of their dinners to take back home. The first display inside the fence after I parked was a couple rows of old tractors. I love old farm equipment, so I walked the rows, and, right at the end, found my stolen tractor. Mark Bennett of Hamburg, MI stole my tractor over a year ago, and there it was! I spent the next two hours waiting for the police, finding they can't/won't help me, talking to the thief, and determining that finally, all I can do is go to court and sue the crook. Needless to say, by the time I got to the farm I wasn't in a very good mood.
When I pulled in the driveway and the cats came running in force, I had to let go of a little of my anger. By the time the cats were fed, I was feeling more civilized. Gibby was frantically barking, so I almost ran over to him, let him out, and he did that amazing jumping thing, but this time, he kissed me! With just the lightest touch, he jumped so he put his front paws on my shoulders and touched my face with his nose. I was so surprised my bad mood was entirely lost. Gibby raced from me to the car, probably looking for Mother and the other dogs, and then back to me at full racing speed. I was sure he was going to knock me down, but he skidded by me in the dirt and turned around behind me to run again. I tried to take some photos, but he was moving entirely too fast.
I did get a photo of the branch that almost killed the dogs yesterday, but it looks very small in the photo. Even though it looks small, it probably weighs a couple hundred pounds because I couldn't budge it at all. Gibby knew he wasn't getting his usual run time, but he was a complete gentleman about going back into his pen - of course, I was carrying a can of his favorite dog food to supplement his dry food. He had that juicy food scarfed up almost before I had the gate chained, then he came to the spot in the fence where I can see him as I leave - see him and feel really guilty for leaving so soon.
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