June bugs....

...and I'm not talking about insects.

We've had different roofing companies out here this week to give us estimates on a new roof. Wonder of wonders, they all showed up when promised. Not surprisingly, two of the companies didn't even call back to set up an appointment. I just don't understand the lack of competitiveness out here in the country.

It's been raining here since mid-May when we went to Canada. It rained practically every day we were gone, and the rain has barely stopped since we got home. Everything from slow and ground-soaking rains to heavy downpours that made ponds and creeks overflow and sent livestock to high ground. At one point along the main highway near our town, horses and cows were blocking the road and had to be corralled by the police and volunteers, which resulted in the entire highway being shut down till the cattle and horses were safely away from the path of vehicles.

In the center of our town, one of the main streets was so deluged with flood water that the concrete just lifted up and floated away. The result of that is a dirt road which is now closed to all vehicle traffic. Heaven only knows when the town Powers That Be will get that repaired. I'm sure the small businesses along that street will be 'in the red' for the rest of the summer.

Savannah continues to be afraid of going outside. My husband has tried walking her up near the road and Savannah just about turns to stone. You can see the stress all over her face and I have to wonder how long it will take this poor dog to return to her normally happy self.  We bought her a "Thunder Jacket" which supposedly calms a dog down in stressful situations. The fabric is like a heavy sweatshirt with 'velcro' strips around the neck and chest to hold it in place. I've put that on Savannah when I take her outside and it does seem to calm her... the jacket fits snugly enough so it hugs her chest-- a very similar sensation to us holding her around her chest when she gets upset.

The fireworks on Memorial Day were the third set of blasts from the new neighbors across the road. They set off fireworks on Christmas Day, April 27th (when Savannah bolted and was missing for 12 days), and now the latest fireworks were after dark on Memorial Day.  Had I walked Savannah five or ten minutes later than I did that night, then we would have been out on the grass during the first of those fireworks.

Ten minutes after the Memorial Day fireworks, that neighbor sent me a text message, telling me that they'd be setting off fireworks for the next 15 minutes.  I sent her a text right back, telling her that I had just been outside with Savannah, and also telling her that she has no idea how our dog has changed since April 27th.  She also probably doesn't know how badly I was hurt when I hit the ground that night, but I left that part out of the text. She wouldn't care anyway, and the issue isn't me, it's Savannah.

Our puppy has certainly changed from the dog who loved to go on walks up and down our road. Now it's all I can do to keep her outside for five minutes at a time, even when she's wearing that Thunder Jacket to soothe her.  As soon as Savannah's paws hit the porch, her ears go back and she looks like she's on high alert, listening for every little teeny sound. This morning, one of the neighbors closed the door of his truck and Savannah quickly tried to hide under a large bush. The homes are very far apart here but the sound travels over the quiet properties and the slamming of that truck door sounded as if it had been in our own driveway when it was actually half a mile away.

Quiet properties. Well, all of them were indeed quiet until the new neighbors moved in. So far, they've broken up the night sky with fireworks, ran a 4-wheel-drive vehicle all over their property, and vehicles go in and out of their driveway every couple of hours. They haven't made that much of an effort to get to know the neighbors, and I honestly don't think they care who's living around them along this road. I hope that family is indeed happy within the confines of their own 18 acres because I, for one, won't be going out of my way to make nice and make them feel welcome. I did that when they first moved here, but with Savannah's 12-day experience of being a lost dog, I couldn't care less about them now. My husband says I need to let this go. Well, I can't. One look at Savannah's scared puppy face and my heart just breaks for her.