[PyrNet-L] The Next adventure--

[Catherine Oldham <cmo@together.net>]

Sasha, Lilly, and the Next Adventure--

The �woman going to France� who had willed me Sasha and Sasha herself
who had vowed to, and did in fact, �send someone� when she left this
earth were not prepared, however, to deal with �Agony Airlines.�

Nancy Coombs drove the soon-to-be Maranatha Mountain Lilly from Nancy�s
home in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to the Baltimore, Maryland Airport, 
so that Lilly could be placed on a direct 45 minute flight to Albany,
New York, where I would be waiting.  It would be an easy, direct flight,
no change overs, no hassles for my beautiful, fluffy, ten-week-old pup.

Nancy called me from the counter-to-counter phone saying that the pup
was about to be loaded  on the plane.  In the background I could hear
loud, healthy, vibrant barking.  Nancy said, with laughter in her voice,
�She�s talking to you already.�

The flight from Baltimore to Albany and the drive from my home in
Readsboro, VT, to Albany would take about the same length of time--45
minutes.  My Dad and I left immediately.  We found the
counter-to-counter building easily and awaited the unloading of the
flight from Baltimore.  As the cargo was unloaded, it occurred to me
that the barking that I had heard from Baltimore was not coming from the
unloading cargo in Albany.  There were goldfish, there were live
rabbits, but there was no Pyr puppy on the plane.

�Where is my dog?�    �Where is she?�   �Did she fall out?�   �What
happened to her?�  I screamed all of these questions at the
counter-to-obviously-not-counter clerk who looked as puzzled and
distraught as I.  

�I don�t know�, he stammered, �I�ll find out,� as  he started a series
of phone calls around the Northeast corridor to locate the �flying Pyr.�

After ten agonizing minutes, the announcement came:   �Well, we found
her,� he smiled.

�Where is she?�  My heart fluttered; my father sat and wiped his brow. 
�Is she okay?�

�She�s fine, and she barks a lot they�re telling me, and she�s in
Norfolk, Virginia!�

The ground crews turned Lilly around, sent her back to Baltimore and
finally to Albany, NY.  In the meantime, Lilly�s future Mom had, shall
we politely say, an animated and stern talk with the ground crew chief
at Baltimore Airport.  Suffice to say that the largely one-way
conversation was punctuated by phrases like �not some out of the pound
puppy�,  �pure bred Great Pyrenees�,  �family will take great pride in
suing your airline�, � will be nothing for us to follow through on this
travesty.�  When I  think back on the absolute gall and ferocious venom
that came out of my mouth that day, I�m amazed and, I guess, a little
proud that I wanted whoever did this to my girl to feel my wrath.

Lilly finally arrived in Albany.  What should have been a 45 minute
flight turned out to take six hours.  In all that time the wee lass did
not make a mess in her crate.  She stepped out and buried her head in my
lap.  She still does that when she wants comfort.

The not-so-counter-to-counter clerk of the you-know-who airlines
announced with pleasure that the airlines was going to give Lilly a
complimentary flight.   I wonder why???

The next time you send someone, Sasha, could you make the arrival a
little easier?  Thanks, hon.

Catherine