Wow -- it's been a long time since we've been out boxing. First we had the
school year to get up and running and then a new business attempt for me
(still working on it {translation -- still buying more of my own stuff than
selling any to anyone else :-)....}). Then we have a hurricane. GEEEEEEZ!

Team BeMa did finally get ourselves together and psyched to go out searching
at Riverbend a couple of weeks ago (o.k. Da and I were psyched, the kids
were cajoled, bribed and slightly threatened....) We thought it would be
great to see the Native American Festival while searching for the five or
six boxes we hadn't yet sought. Great idea -- bad timing! Team BeMa soon
learned the lesson of the sin of sloth (which means getting out of the house
after 9:30 on a weekend) when we crawled up to the entrance at Riverbend.
We knew we were in trouble when we saw lines of parked cars snaking down the
side streets as we approached the entrance! The park was jam packed!! I
admired the chutzpah of the organizers, though, who continued to charge $20
for the privilege or creeping around the parking lot in search of
non-existent spaces! I guess if the traffic is slow enough, they venture
that you're getting a "tour" of the park after all!...

Don't get us wrong -- we were happy to see this beloved local park so
crowded, especially since its funding had recently been threatened. We
would have just loved it that much more if all these kind and gentle,
nature-loving folk had ventured out seeking the solace of mother earth and a
knowledge of native American culture a couple of minutes AFTER us instead of
before us. Just enough time for us to find one lousy space -- it didn't
even have to be that close - although the ones next to the handicapped
spaces are always appreciated since they have an extra buffer area in
between the cars for those occassions when Miss Ma exuberantly throws open
her car door right into the side of another. Note to look for some type of
little plastic door ding protective devices... O.K. I guess that is a
rather selfish attitude, but it had been a while since we'd gotten out...

More days pass, Little League, Grasshopper science project, too hot, too
cold... We finally get another chance for a quick hop to the dog park in
search of poison ivy. Pup was a happy, happy dog as we reached into the
front closet for her leash. She is a happy, happy dog, crashing through her
baby gate and careening into the front door when ever she sees us near that
closet, whether for her leash or the gardening shoes or the vacuum... You
gotta love her optimism!

After multiple minutes of twisting and wrangling and searching through all
that very thick fur (which didn't really shed off this summer) Ha was
cinched up and ready to go. Not, mind you, that Ha really deserved to go
after peeing on our bedroom carpet three times in the last four days, but,
the kids did -- seeing as they had always managed to do their duty in the
proper place although don't ask me if they both always remember to flush
(darn those automatic flushers at school!) and Da and I were raring to go
(just anywhere out of the house!!). We figured Poison Ivy would be a fast
find, being as it was located near to Rusty. As it turned out...

Ha had a lot of fun in the dog park although there weren't many dogs to play
with. Oddly enough, those dogs and owners who were there, reading quietly,
curiously started to leave soon after we arrived... Perhaps it was Be's
enthusiastic attempts to get a dog, any dog, to chase after the balls he was
throwing or Ma's burgeoning "STICKS FOR SALE" business. Ma believes in
advertising her businesses loudly and persistently. Or maybe it was her
knack for sweetly sidling up to a resting dog owner and then proceeding to
point out to them all the deposits of dog poopie that she had thusly
located. Some poor souls even went so far as to clean them up even though
they were old and dusty piles (the dog poopies -- not the owners).

After an hour or so of play in the now abandoned dog park, we strode through
the double gates and hit the trail. The directions were straight forward
and we located poison ivy with ease. Yeah!!

At that point, we realized that Poison Ivy's placers had most likely made
the same mistake we had when we went in search of Rusty -- the wrong sewer.
This error had so very courteously been pointed out to us by Witchie Poo and
the Knights of Columbo almost a year ago when they had spotted us poking
around in the woods. After desperately trying to pretend we were just in
the woods "because and for no apparent reason" and ignoring their calls, we
relented and got our first exchange!! Of course, we tackle every
prospective boxer we spy now -- how we've grown (I didn't say matured...)

We continued up the path to the second sewer on the other side of the path,
and, for a lark, decided to check in again on Rusty. But, lo and behold, in
the spot where we thought we remembered him to be lay a pile (a big pile)
(no, not of doggie poo -- we're beyond that now) of branches and trees
toppled over by Isabel!! I tried to search under the debris for the
squashed holly bush and found it, but, couldn't move enough of the heavy
branches to seek the box. Mary -- you may wish to check this out. We may
have been in the wrong place (gosh -- that has been known to happen) but, we
believe Rusty may need to be moved.

We finally gave up this second reunion search and headed back to the cars.
Da and Be and Ma jumped in Da's car to head out for another kid-pitch Little
League game while Na tried desperately to contain Ha while arranging every
possible towel I could find on the seats of the car to protect it from Ha's
very muddy paws. Who knows who got the better end of the deal? The game
went long and no sooner had I shut the passenger side door and scooted
around to the driver's side, was I greeted by a muck-infested pup proudly
perched behind the wheel...

Thank you for the fun hunt -- we hope it won't be as long until we go out
again! BeMa

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