Things that go loose in the night....

I've been tired all day.

After spending an evening with friends out and about, I did what I do every evening: let my two grehounds out to take care of business...at 1 a.m. It started off very ordinary, but in a matter of minutes things went to hell in a handbasket in 1.3 nanoseconds.

The hounds were released.

Not on purpose, mind you. Being extremely nimble and very narrow, they quickly escaped on me, and suddenly I was transported into a "Born Free" moment that was neither planned nor welcomed.

After taking off like a rocket, and yes, once again me trailing far behind (and really, someone in my shape and age simply CANNOT catch a greyhound in full stride) looking like a complete jackass, the hounds were loose. It didn't help much that Dillon is jet black, and Siri is brindle (translated: canine camoflage), in the dead of night. It really created a myriad of complications. Fast, nimble, and stealth, and naturally camoflaged. Greyhounds 1, Owner 0.

Apparently a daughter of one of my neighbors happened to be up at the time and said she heard a man yelling outside. She originally was going to call the police thinking it to be a domestic altercation, but then realized after seeing my hefty ass running full speed at 2 miles per hour trying to track down something, she figured out that I was after my animals. At one point the dogs stopped, but then took off once they saw me come close, and then were gone. Rat bastards.

After going around and around the block about 6 times, a guy on the other side of my block just happened to be stepping outside for a cigarette, and tracked me down to tell me that the dogs were just in a persons yard. Who knew there would be so much neighborhood nighttime activity at such an hour? But I did spot them, now 20 minutes into the ordeal.

Well, Dillon really wanted to come to me, but when Siri took off, he thought running with her was the better option, and ended up following right behind. I seriously needed Barbara Woodhouse and a firm "Walkies!" at that moment. Where is she when when you need her?

Eventually they ended up in my next door neighbor's yard, trapped into a corner by a fence row. Busted.

Eventually they came to their senses, and halted their midnight escapade when they knew they were as good as caught. THANK GOD. It also ended the midnight entertainment for apparently more neighbors than I thought, which was more than fine for me.