The Panthers

5/29/14 

Well this week was a goody. I don’t have that much time so I am going to write furiously until my time is up.

First, here on the coast it dumps buckets all day every day.  So this week we "went off a little bit craaazier than usual" (who can name that movie?) and it was just pouring.  It rained so much that it was up to the middle of the wheels of the cars and just about drowning our wheels of the bikes.  Haha It was kinda fun for the first 5 minutes.

Also this week I felt like I was part the animal planet "shark week" except out of the water and replace shark with crazy dogs.  We had several attempts by those sneaky little guys this week.  

There are some that are straight up.  When they see you, they get down in the starting position and they take off at the sound of the gun.  They chase you until they get you or until you outrun them.

There are others that are lazy.  They see you bark a couple of times take a couple of steps and they call it good.

There are others that are trying to prove something to the other dogs.  They look at all of their buddies and then chase us for a bit and then go back to all of the rest.

And then we have the smarter ones—the panthers and the ambushers. We had several cases of these 2 types of dogs this week.

The panthers are the stalkers that follow in silence until you stop.  Then quietly they sneak up on you through the shadows and the bushes.  They wait for you watching every move, until they know that you aren’t ready and then they strike their prey.  

The other is the ambusher.  You will be riding along the street when you see one tiny little dog by himself.  You don’t think that it will be that big of a problem, until they start to sign the war cry. Then you hear them off in the distance.  The other dogs coming.  Running, growling and barking all in unison like a well-trained army.  It is in these times that I feel like I am Indiana Jones running away from his the Indians in the first movie.  My companion and I even have started singing the theme song when we hear the herds coming.

I know that the big man lives.  And he put me in this country with all of these crazy dogs for a reason.  I know that he gives us problems so that we can overcome them and grow.  Keep working hard.  I love you all.  

Thanks for everything and have a good week.

Love

Elder Merkley