I got home after work,

I got home after work, planning to spend 15 minutes playing with the dog and then to head to the Oasis to pickup Jennifer after her swim. I go into the back yard, all ready to bond, and there is no Homer! I walk the fence and discover where the bugger got out. There is a loose plank that we overlooked in the darkness while fixing the fence last night. My first thought was about how I failed my responsibility (visions of me losing a child, when I actually have one). Then came the thought of the consequences. If I let Meredith know that he's lost, I'm in trouble and her husband Michael is in serious trouble (she'll blame him for the fence, since he's the handyman). She must not know!

So I hit the neighborhood parks on my bike (wondering if I'll even recognized the dog which I've been exposed to for less than a day, and that mostly in darkness) and, by sheer luck, find him hanging out with some kids. They say they'd been playing with him all day long (I don't mention that they've possibly picked up some parasites from him) and they ask me whether he's mine. I say sure, without explaining too much, and try to get Homer to come to me. Of course, he has no idea what his name is and stays about three feet away from me no matter how sweetly I talk to him and eventually crawls under a bridge. After my failed efforts, the kids easily coax him out and I try to get him to walk home. No luck with that, he's either too tired or, more likely, doesn't trust me. So I pick him up and cary him home - I have to go back to the park to pick up my bike later.

I block the lose plank with a plastic garten chair and stool and arrive at the Oasis 45 minutes late.

When we get back to the house at night, the frigging dog is gone again! He managed to get around the furniture and out through the same hole in the fence. I find a lantern and get ready for another search patrol. Luckily he's hanging around the front of the house, so I manage to cajole him in about 15 minutes. I brave my way through the weeds in the darkness and nail the loose plank back in its place.

Let's see how long this will hold him. I'm thinking of renaming Homer to Houdini.

All ended well, though. When Jennifer came over, we sat in the back yard and Homer would eventually come by for a sniff and let us scratch his itchy hide. I had to hold him on my lap while Jennifer forced some medicin down his throat, and without much complaint he felt asleep on my lap. Unfortunately so did my feet, so we had to wake him up to get him off of me. He seems more relaxed, though, so maybe he no longer views me as an enemy.