Mistakes

Yesterday I made two stupid mistakes. Thursday night Kevin's sister and brother-in-law came for a visit. There is a BrewFest or some kind of beer event that they like to attend every year. Friday we had a lovely brunch with them at Guglhupf, a German restaurant/biergarten that has a great setup for outdoor seating, including heaters. You order at the outside window and someone brings the food to your table. You grab your own silverware and water (if you're not drinking beer). The food was very good. I ordered schnitzel, like you do when you're at a German restaurant. My side was cucumber salad. I should have taken a picture. The pork covered the plate. It's a very thin, breaded cutlet. It was good, but might have benefited (in my benighted opinion) from some kind of sauce. Probably mustard, which I don't like. We sat and talked in the sunshine for hours. It was very nice. Amelia and I went to a nearby thrift store, Pennies for Change. More upscale than the others I have visited. And they had a set of ceramic canisters. They were individually priced, so I could have gotten just the big one, but I felt it was wrong to break up the set. We also got a mirror with hooks to hang by the front door. Not sure when that will happen...Then I spent some more time at the shop, working on my plaid flannel bathrobe. I'm beginning to think I might finish it. And wear it and like it! We had Amelia's leftover chickpea and cauliflower curry for supper, with a few condiments like cucumbers in yogurt and coconut and peanuts. She is staying with us for a few days, while the group is carousing. Obviously, can't really mask when you're drinking beer and there are lots of people, so she will be cautious until a few days after they leave. She goes by to take care of the chickens morning and night, but keeps her distance from her husband and family. We're glad to have her here, and it's nice she has that options. Even without COVID, it's not super fun to be the sober one going to bed while a group of loud drunk people hang out. On Saturday, the event was to take place. Amelia works all day every Saturday and it was busy at the store. Ray and I were to go to the Farmers' Market and then go by Amelia's house to let out her dog, Maggie, and Kasey & Rhett's dog, Ipa. At 9:45, Ray noticed that he was supposed to be at work at the H&R Block office at 10. Since we have only one car here, I could drive him to work if I wanted a car. "No," I said, I wasn't going anywhere. I didn't feel like going to the farmers' market alone and I wouldn't be going to Amelia's shop when it was busy. She had two classes scheduled, so I couldn't use the classroom, where I usually set up the sewing machine. That was my first mistake, because I remembered, an hour or so later, that I needed to go to Amelia's and let out the dogs, somewhere in the middle of the day, while people were at the BeerFest. Ray offered to run back and give me the car. "No," I said, "I'll walk. I'll take Cameron and we'll rest there a while before we walk back." Second mistake. It took 37 minutes for us to walk there. I kept yanking on Cameron, so he wouldn't stop and smell everything. The first part of the route was familiar, we walked toward the park where Ray usually takes him. Then we turned on Indian Trail, a nice quiet road. None of the streets had any sidewalk, or even shoulder. Then we turned on Hillandale, which was pretty busy. We walked along the edge of the golf course, which was very busy. It was a beautiful sunny day. I didn't need my hat, but kept my fleece zipped up. I was okay, but the last few minutes I was pretty tired. C. was panting, wandering into the middle of the street if I didn't keep him close (in the neighborhood, not on the busy road). We got to the house and I let him into the back yard. I went around and let the dogs out into the yard and the next thing I knew there was barking and snarling and Ipa was on top of Cameron. I was yelling, "No," and "Stop," but I didn't dare try to get between them, since I don't really know Ipa and she clearly did not know Cameron. OK, I get it in hindsight. There was a strange dog in the yard and she was protecting Maggie, maybe even me. I got her back in the house. Maggie was just confused. There was blood on Cameron's muzzle and he waited by the gate. He wanted to go. I wanted to rest and I wanted him to rest. I brought him water, but I don't think he drank any. He didn't seem to have trouble walking and he stopped bleeding. Ipa appeared unhurt and unfazed. I had a couple glasses of water and sat for a bit, but C. wasn't interested in resting there. On the way back, we took our time. I let him smell as much as he wanted. We took a different route without busy roads. It was colder now, though, and I wanted to be done with the whole thing. There is a small cut on his face, but Cameron seems fine and anxious to go for another walk. I'm fine too, but not planning to walk that far again soon.