Funny Thing Happened on the River Today:
I took the kids down to the river to find some treasures and throw rocks etc. this afternoon, just before dinner time. Across the river (the Mighty Columbia, so it's pretty wide, y'know), we hear a man shouting what sounds like, "Help!" So I tell the kids to be quiet for a minute so I can listen better and they agree, he's saying, "Help!" So I holler back as loud as I can, "You okay?" No answer. I wait. He says it again, "Help!" Okay, I call the Daddy bird for a judgement call, this man is not far from some houses he could hike up to if he needs some help, but then again, if someone fell in, he doesn't want to leave them and he can't hear me over the noise of them in the water maybe. So I call 9-1-1 and tell them what's going on. We are transferred to the Police Department on that side of the river and I tell them exactly what road I'm on and that this man is directly across the river from us. We sit down while I nurse the Baby Bird and the Big Bird says, "Why don't you use your camera to see if you can tell what's going on over there?" Great idea, I have my telephoto lens right next to me! So I pull it out, hand the baby over to the Big Bird and stabilize myself to see clearly. I see a man and a little child walking back and forth, picking up rocks every now and then...and a dog...and the man is yelling something at the dog every time he goes into the water. Oops! He was training the pooch for some bird hunting or something, and I called 9-1-1 on him! After a couple of minutes, they all get in a car and drive up the hill just as a police car zooms past them to the river to stop, look around, probably shake his head, and drive off, too. Smart Big Bird, silly Mommy. Really embarrassed, silly Mommy who wasted the poor officer's time. Good memory, though, the Blue Bird re-lived it all through dinner...Making his meatballs shout for help to his spaghetti and then he'd gobble up the "rope" and ask me again, "What you saying to that man, Mommy?" "Why you call police to help him with his dog?" Because I wasn't as quick thinking as my 6 year old, that's why.
I took the kids down to the river to find some treasures and throw rocks etc. this afternoon, just before dinner time. Across the river (the Mighty Columbia, so it's pretty wide, y'know), we hear a man shouting what sounds like, "Help!" So I tell the kids to be quiet for a minute so I can listen better and they agree, he's saying, "Help!" So I holler back as loud as I can, "You okay?" No answer. I wait. He says it again, "Help!" Okay, I call the Daddy bird for a judgement call, this man is not far from some houses he could hike up to if he needs some help, but then again, if someone fell in, he doesn't want to leave them and he can't hear me over the noise of them in the water maybe. So I call 9-1-1 and tell them what's going on. We are transferred to the Police Department on that side of the river and I tell them exactly what road I'm on and that this man is directly across the river from us. We sit down while I nurse the Baby Bird and the Big Bird says, "Why don't you use your camera to see if you can tell what's going on over there?" Great idea, I have my telephoto lens right next to me! So I pull it out, hand the baby over to the Big Bird and stabilize myself to see clearly. I see a man and a little child walking back and forth, picking up rocks every now and then...and a dog...and the man is yelling something at the dog every time he goes into the water. Oops! He was training the pooch for some bird hunting or something, and I called 9-1-1 on him! After a couple of minutes, they all get in a car and drive up the hill just as a police car zooms past them to the river to stop, look around, probably shake his head, and drive off, too. Smart Big Bird, silly Mommy. Really embarrassed, silly Mommy who wasted the poor officer's time. Good memory, though, the Blue Bird re-lived it all through dinner...Making his meatballs shout for help to his spaghetti and then he'd gobble up the "rope" and ask me again, "What you saying to that man, Mommy?" "Why you call police to help him with his dog?" Because I wasn't as quick thinking as my 6 year old, that's why.
posted by FlamingoLingo @ 10:20 PM
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