Escapee Apprehended in Glendale Parking Lot...

Paws is the Dude on the right.

Today was a sort of exciting day for this man, who seems to have been moving all of his life. I arrived at LJ's house with a load of kitchen plants, the contents of my kitchen junk drawer and the flying bitch, a statue that has been on one plant shelf or another for the past 20 years. She now sits at the side of Julie's swimming pool looking anticipatory. When the Lovely Jules left my old house yesterday, she looked into my freezer and spotted 2 packages of frozen spare ribs that she swiftly carried out my door, looking back and saying we'll have ribs tomorrow! As the door slammed closed, I believe I yelled, "Okay", but she was already on her way home with one of my leftover car lot cars.

As I walked in her kitchen door, I distinctly smelled ribs cooking and found LJ sitting in our 78 degree sun chatting on the phone with Professor M. I didn't ask, but could tell by the smile on her face. Pawpaw was sunning himself in what will eventually be my room. Paws is about 20 years old and looks as old as any dog I've ever seen. He seems to have aged quite a bit in the last year or so and can just barely make it around the house. He wobbles and falls a lot, but still has the attitude of a young pup and still goes into the pool on a regular basis, even in the colder weather. I laugh as Julie tries to lift him out of the pool, the only part he can't quite do himself.

I unloaded and chatted when LJ got off the phone and listened to her events of the day. I was kind of doing my own thing when Julie came running into the garage asking if I'd seen Paws, he's gone! Gone, I said, where did he go? Dumb question. Julie was frantic looking everywhere. She leaves the service door from the garage into the backyard open a lot and I had the garage door open and when Paws saw his chance and no one was around, evidently he just sneaked out. LJ was freaking out! She hopped into her truck that I had just finished unloading and took off looking for him. Not knowing what else to do, I jumped into my car and drove off in the opposite direction to search. I got about 5 blocks and surmised that Paws probably couldn't make it any farther than that and I circled back. As I returned to the house, I saw Julie pulling into the driveway and yelled, "Did you find him"? She nodded yes and hopped out of her truck. She yelled that she found him down at the Safeway Shopping Center about a mile away, just laying on the sidewalk, watching traffic pass by. He evidently fell and couldn't get back up. That''s when I noticed that LJ was bleeding from her hand and leg. I asked what happened and how she got hurt. Looking up from lifting that 100 LB goofball out of her truck, she smiled and said, "He put up a fight"!