No good deed unpunished

For the first time this fall, it was actually cold when I clipped in. As Eric and I rolled out, it was 36 degrees. I actually had to find gloves with some sort of wind protection. The vest stayed on for a long time. I even wore knee warmers.

We explored the hills and valleys between Fort Calhoun and Blair, we wound it up far too high on a couple of occasions (my fault entirely), we had a nice ride.

And we found another stray dog. About a month ago, we escorted a big, dumb, wandering lab back to his home and called the owner. He was the typical country dog: he knows where home is, but sometimes he just likes to wander around ... in the middle of a blind curve.

Yesterday's dog was similarly sweet, but clearly needed some love. She was was rail thin and starved for attention, too. She was way too nice to be laying in the ditch, crouched over road kill.

So we escorted her the quarter-mile to the Douglas County line, called the Humane Society and waited for a pick-up. It added about an hour to a ride that was within 20 minutes of being done.

And that pushed back an interview I had set up for a newspaper story, which added work later in the evening. In the end, though, I got done what needed to be done — though it was considerably later than I hoped it would be.

Hopefully the karma bonus points will outweigh the momentary stress the rescue added. And hopefully that dog finds a good home.