As I got near the driveway tonight on my way home, I noticed Melissa’s truck cockeyed in the neighbor’s driveway. It looked like somebody had run her off the road. So, heart pounding, I pulled into our driveway…and there were the kids all standing there as if nothing was really the matter. Then I noticed that Melissa was nowhere near the truck. So I asked the kids, “Where’s mommy?” “At the neighbor’s house” came the nonchalant reply. “So why is her truck parked that way?” I asked. “Because the donkeys are over there, and that’s going to help us get them home.”
If any of that makes any sense to you, you’re way ahead of me.
Peering down the neighbor’s driveway, I noticed Melissa ushering along Vanilla, Chocolate and Turtle. Turns out “somebody” left the gates (yes, that’s plural) open, and the “herd” went for a stroll along the road. A helpful neighbor saw them running down the highway and was able to run them off the road before somebody came barreling over the hill and inadvertently mounted a donkey head to their hood.
Getting them home was a bit of a challenge. Although our driveways are right next to each other, it’s a bit of a distance up to the street. And it turns out that they were just skittish enough from their unexpected adventure to stampede right when they needed to be calm. So after driving them up the neighbors driveway two or three times (and them escaping via stampede a couple of times), they were finally calm enough to make it “’round the bend” (the bend being formed by the awkwardly parked truck) and back home onto our property.
Always an adventure, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.