This past weekend we headed up the shore for the annual Winterer's Gathering at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais. Better known by my father as the "hippie fest". This weekend was filled with interesting drama. But before I get into that, take a look at the first snowfall of the year on the Onion River. Beautiful.
Ok, so the drama has two parts and involves both the dogs. Friday evening Aspen tried to commit suicide...again. For those of you who don't know Aspen's history, her other suicide attempts have involved ripping her chest wide open on barbed wire and getting attacked by an angry nest of hornets; not to mention her chronic drinking problem or her attempt at blindness (conjunctivitis). This time she got more creative by drinking anti-freeze out of the toilet. This was followed by a stumbling and falling-all-over-herself act that convinced both Jon and I that she was heading for kidney failure. In reality, she was exhausted from running around on 160 acres with 2 other dogs. The emergency vet in Duluth didn't help matters when she told me that stumbling is the first sign of poisoning and that Aspen had 6 hours to live. It took Leah's cool head to point out that the "pink" anti-freeze Aspen drank was quite different from the "neon green" toxic stuff we put in our cars. At that point, Jon called our veterinarian in Hastings who confirmed that we had nothing to worry about. The "pink stuff" is actually approved by the FDA as safe. Apparently we all should be drinking it. I'll spare you any further details, but just imagine Abra thinking her dog is dying in the next 6 hours...not good.
I will worn you ahead of time, the second drama is disgusting and the weak of stomach should not read on. Sasha has long enjoyed escaping the confinement of her lease and heading into the woods for a tasty treat. Usually she comes back with a mouse, rabbit, squirrel, or other rodent. This time she, along with all the others hunters in Cook County last weekend, went for bigger and better things...deer. Sasha found a decomposing deer near the farm and filled up on it. We didn't realize this until several hours later when she vomitted in the back of Jon's van. If I had to guess, I'd say it was about 5 lbs of intestines, raw meat, bone, and hair. If that wasn't bad enough, she did this twice. I should be buying stock in whoever makes Resolve at this point.
Ah, but we love our dogs....
