phone calls to the farm

Yesterday the phone rang as we were doing the supper dishes, and I hesitated to answer it. Honestly, ever since the accident, my heart stops momentarily every time the phone rings. But, I answered it just the same.

Fully expecting one of the girls, or some sales guy from India, I was surprised to hear the neighbor's raspy voice on the other end. Seems his dogs had alerted him to some other strange dogs in the neighborhood and he wanted to give me a heads up. He thought perhaps they were some strange Rottweilers. Since we have sheep, and chickens, the neighbors make it their duty to apprise us of threats. I truly appreciate this fact. I could barely hear him for the ruckus his dogs were causing in the background. We exchanged a few more comments and hung up. Our dogs were up at the gate, bouncing around, barking at something as well, so I kept an eye out for the "rogue" dogs.

That got me thinkin' about all the phone calls we get around here to give us a "heads up" about the weird and random.

We've had phone calls about lost dogs, escaped calves, rabid foxes, a missing parrot, stray kittens and loose pigs, and even a bear....but,the best one, oh the absolute best one.. was a call from an elderly neighbor alerting me to the fact that a THREE-legged SKUNK was heading this direction! I have NO idea what I was supposed to do with that knowledge, but she thought perhaps it might have been "one of the children's pets". That one about reduced me to tears of hilarity. We have gotten miles of usage out of that line over the years.

So, next time the phone rings, rather than expect the worst....I guess I should try to remember the hilarious. 'Cause you just never know what might be headin' this direction!