There's a little black, older, greying dog in my complex named Roscoe. If I had to guess and put a real number to it, I would say he's about 15 years old. He's part Schnauzer and this could account for his durability. He's built like a little German tank! So well behaved, so sweet in demeanor, and just the best dog out there with his bushy bushy eyebrows, his long little go-tee beard, and of course, that throaty sort of raspy howl that probably comes from whatever else is mixed in with his breeding. Roscoe can be such a gentleman and then, break your heart by leaving you to be cuddled and loved by someone else in our community who also loves him as much as I do.
When Roscoe is out and about he really doesn't bother having his lead attached to his collar; there's no need, in that literally all of us in the complex know exactly who his human is, and we know that when you see Roscoe that Kenny is not far behind. Today, that was not the case. Today, I was both blessed and frightened at the sight of seeing Roscoe because there simply was no Kenny to be found! I looked in all directions. Usually, and there has never been an exception in the many years I've seen them together, when there was a time that Kenny was more than 100 feet from his hound. I say hound. I have no idea if there's a hound in the mix, but the braying does imply that there certainly may be. The thing is, Kenny is ALWAYS behind Roscoe, and today he was not.
If you know anything about where I live through these blogs, you'll know that ours is a community with a great sense of community. I often say I could move to a more luxurious place, but I don't know the crazies that live around it, and I do know the crazies in my own complex. It may not be glamourous, but today when Kenny was possibly in trouble, I was able to immediately round up four residents, the landlord, and a police officer to try and find the man. This is what community does and how a community should conduct itself. We are all in this together, even if we don't see eye-to-eye politically, religiously, or whatever, if one is in need the others could and should respond.
The first thing I did was alert the landlord. I wanted her to call Kenny as she has his number, and that is exactly what she did. Having not received a pickup or a text back in about five minutes, she called me to say she was headed to his apartment. I took Roscoe to mine. She called back, Kenny was not home, or at least he did not answer. This could be bad. I spotted a police officer parked in the parking lot beside our apartment, I gave him a full report. He called it in, and he took off looking for Kenny in his truck...yes, here in Oklahoma we have cops driving trucks. I love that. Then, I took off walking, finding neighbors who would do the same and in a few minutes, maybe twenty actually, we were able to locate Kenny. He had been in another apartment helping a neighbor put up framed pictures. He had used an air-staple gun to find studs for the hooks, and that was something Roscoe could not tolerate. He left.
One of the reasons we were panicked is that he didn't respond to the phone text. He couldn't hear it since he had his ear protection on his head and the phone was across the room. That act sent all of us into motion. At least we know we have a posse ready and willing to find a soul that may be dead in the alleys or from falling in the pond! Thank God, (yes, I prayed and asked God to find him for us) Kenny was just helping another neighbor and didn't really need our assistance, but once he realized that his dog was out he began searching for him. Kenny went one way and I went the other apparently. Others made the rounds around the complex, and when we found each other I was able to flag him down and let him know I had his best friend in my apartment, who by now was probably fatter having spent time with Laura and the treats we give our dogs.
If you leave a dog or cat, (bird, pig, sheep, cow, horse, or donkey) with Laura long enough (2 minutes) it will be fed. It will be groomed. It will be started on some sort of training regiment. Roscoe was found in the apartment with the others, being given treats for handing Laura his paw on command. She was most impressed by his talents, but now Kenny may be forced to reward Roscoe with treats for the privilege of shaking his paw, we will have to wait and see how that turns out. For an older dog, Roscoe is both spry and athletic. Seeing Kenny waiting for him about 100 yards away, Roscoe jumped out of Laura's arms and sprinted the distance making that all too familiar howling call of his. The call we all hear from time to time and say to ourselves, "There's Roscoe!" It was great to know he was not missing his human for more than a few minutes.
I wish more people would help more people. That's the point of the story, and I think I'll add the story to my book in another chapter so I can show that community used to be so much more important to us than it is today. We need to return to that time, for sure.
This is not Roscoe, but he looks so much like this.
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