1. Mischa (There’s a dog)

There’s a DOG in there!

I deliberated a long time, and visited and viewed many prospective studs, before I made a decision which dog I wanted to breed Mischa with for this pregnancy, her second litter. We were there in Flagstaff, Paul, Devon and the two dogs and I, in the one room in the church. The dog I had chosen for Mischa lived in Denver. That was about a five or six hundred mile trip from where we lived. My plans for the trip were to drive Mischa in the Volkswagen while Paul and Devon and Buck remained in Flagstaff.

It was my style at that time in my life to travel very sparcely. By this I mean I didn’t “do” motels or any sort of regular stopping place. I would have my map next to me and have some general idea how far I might be able to travel in a day. Otherwise I didn’t have an outlined itinerary or much of a plan at all. I had a destination and headed toward that. I drove and when I felt like it was time to stop, I started looking for a place to pull over and turn in. I had the utmost faith(and still do) in my ability to have good experiences. I had driven a good day and began to look for a place to stop for the night. The sun had gone down and the light was beginning to fade. We were on a developed highway but in a remote area, away from any towns. After a while I saw a sign for a turn off the main road with an arrow that pointed to “Airport.” I made the turn off the highway and pulled off the airport road in a little grassy spot. I got out with Mischa and we both peed for the night, I got back in and locked the car doors, spread out my sleeping bag on the back seat, Mischa lay down next to me, and we prepared to go to sleep. Then here came the sound of a car pulling off the highway on the same road where we were. I could hear loud music playing in the car. The car drove past where we were, stopped, backed up, and pulled in with headlights facing toward us. I opened my eyes and lay there, wondering what this might be. Mischa also was alert to the sound.

In just a moment the Volkswagen started rocking back and forth. Then there was a young man’s face at the back window, looking directly at me, his face looking down where I lay on the back seat. At that moment Mischa hit the window with teeth and a ferocious loud roar. RARARARARAR!!! The young man’s eyes became as big as dinner plates and he yelled…”There’s a DOG in there!” And he disappeared from the window. In just seconds the car lights backed away and the car drove off. It’s not a long detailed story, but it was such a powerful moment. How that dog would have been able to dispatch those young men…most likely thinking we were a couple parking there for some necking or other “evening physical activity”… that they’d just love to irritate or scare the hell out of. Instead they got their money’s worth from a big white dog who was not intimidated by them AT ALL.

It still makes me laugh when I think of it.