Dogs can't fly, but turkeys can when they really need to

   POINT RICHMOND, Calif. - If you have ever seen a Roadrunner cartoon (and who hasn't, really...) you're familiar with how the fast-moving bird lures Wile E. Coyote over cliffs and into all manner of hilarious, cartoon dangers.  
     Hilarious. In cartoons.
     But on Thanksgiving Eve, our 8-pound, 13-month-old Yorkie named Biscuit was chasing a flock of wild turkeys in Miller-Knox Regional Park when those wily birds ran to a cliff and took off flying for safety. Despite what WKRP in Cincinnati says in a famous comedy sketch, turkeys can fly.
     For Biscuit, chasing the wild turkeys is great sport, frequently a part of his regular early morning hikes with Admiral Sylvia Fox and her amigas through the hills right behind our condo. Those walks have been the highlight of most days for Biscuit.
     But that morning Biscuit didn't realize his pursuit would result in him launching into space - just like Wile E. Coyote.
    Unlike the cartoons, somewhere between his airborne launch and eventual crash landing at the bottom of a cliff, he broke his femur and got scuffed up. Admiral Fox had risk her own limbs to climb down and then carry him up. His leg was too busted to walk. Then it was a muy rapido 911 drive for the Admiral, Biscuit and I to the Pet Emergency Center of Marin in San Rafael where he spent 24 hours that included a longish surgery to install a plate and screws to repair his leg.

At rest, just home from the vet hospital

     The Biscuit now is taking pain medication, an antibiotic, an anti-inflammatory and has strict doctor's orders of no-running, no jumping. He can walk short stretches if he wants to.
     He hasn't shown much inclination to do any running or jumping, except for brief moment this morning while out doing a three-legged hop in the bushes for his morning pee.
     Just as he finished his business, some wild turkeys started loudly gobbling about 100 feet away in the brush near the condo parking lot. He pulled on the leash like an Alaskan sled dog to get back upstairs to safety and his warm bed.
     The hardest part of the next four weeks - yes, four weeks - is that he can't lick the stitches or be allowed to try to pull them out with his teeth. And he has lots of stitches, clearly visible the photo above. Plus he has to be kept from all jumping to avoid re-injuring his leg.
     So, he gets to be a Conehead for the month. And unless we are holding him close or he is nearby enough that we can grab him to prevent jumping, he's now resides in a child's playpen.
     Although he can't say it, it's clear the Biscuit is pretty unhappy about the indignity of it all.
     Below are some photos and a video that tell the tale.

Moving slow, but already healing

Temporary quarters when not in a pack or on a lap

Biscuit got a new, inflatable cone/collar Sunday... He's much happier. Much.

Biscuit's favorite mode of transportation - even before his leg was broken 

The X-ray tells the tale - but it was a clean break

The scene of Biscuit's attempt at flight

Video narrative from the scene

Autlan adventures, attorneys and a Princess joins the Pink Flamingo

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - The Admiral, CEO Laura and I barreled out of the Pink Flamingo at 7 a.m. Monday, for a drive across two big mountains to the city of Autlan for an appointment with an attorney who has some documents we need.

At least we thought we had an appointment.

His door was securely locked and a group milling about outside said because it was the end of Carnaval Week, it was likely he could be sleeping off a bender.

We were not amused, but, well, it's Mexico.


The wrong place

We were dispatched to another office by a fellow giving us directions who insisted there was an attorney there by the same name. And he was right. But the senor there - now a dispenser of natural drugs - gave up his law practice many years ago. He seemed like he might have been willing to break out his law shingle again, though. The health business looked a little slow.

What was not slow was the Carnaval, gearing up for its last day and night.

Admiral Fox and Laura were cornered by two horsemen who insisted that they drink a cup of a strange-looking punch, poured from a wooden container to be part of the festivities.


Ready to ride again, with drink in hand

The long drive (nearly 6 hours total) was capped back home by the rescue/adoption of a small black dog that had been wandering about the entrance to Arroyo Seco for several days.

We had seen the dog late Sunday night, sleeping in the middle of the road. Then, Monday morning it was still there, though looking somewhat distressed. When we returned Monday afternoon late, Adm. Fox and Laura donned their capture-a-dog outfits and went out to bring the pooch back to the Pink Flamingo.

So far, the dog, which I have dubbed Hazel (though Princessa Hazel seems to have more traction), has been bathed by her attendants and is working her way through a bag of imported salami we purchased at Costco. I believe she also slept in CEO Laura's condominio last night.

If the Princessa demands to drink some of the Pinot Grigio I bought, we will have to talk.


Princessa Hazel gets a Pink Flamingo welcome