Living in rural Indiana means you get used to a few things. Tractors at sunrise. Combines rolling through the fields. The occasional chorus of coyotes after dark. But every summer there’s one sound that is different—a crop dusting helicopter.
Yesterday, one came in low over the field beside the barndo. I mean really low. It swooped over the trees, banked hard, disappeared for a few seconds, and then came roaring back again. If you’ve never watched one work, it’s actually impressive. I immediately went outside with my trusty iPhone camera and the 3 hounds bounded out with me.
Hugo was certain it was the beginning of the apocalypse.
Hugo’s eyes got as big as dinner plates, and he started looking from me to the sky as if I was somehow responsible for the noisy flying monster. He hid behind me and barked, thinking that maybe staying close to Mom was the safest survival strategy. The other 2 dogs weren’t even interested.
I took another photo (below) as the helicopter pulled up as it got closer to the barndo.
That’s when Hugo scrambled… toenails slipping as he struggled for traction… and RAN.
The little feller ran across all the decking and into the fenced in yard. He only stopped when he ran out of yard he could access, stopping in the farthest corner from the noisy thing in the air. I opened the door and called him to come inside. He bounded across the area he’d just covered toward the safety of the couch.
Life in the country is never boring.
One day it’s deer wandering through the yard. Another day it’s muddy paw prints across the floor. And sometimes it’s a helicopter flying low enough to convince one very sweet pit bull that the end times have arrived.
I suppose that’s just another chapter in the adventures of Hugo. Around here, courage isn’t measured by how you face a helicopter. Sometimes courage is simply walking back outside after it’s gone… just in case it decides to come back. 🙂
Now you know: In November 1872, the ghost ship Mary Celeste was found adrift in the Atlantic—completely seaworthy, fully stocked with 6 months of provisions, but all 10 people on board had vanished without a trace.