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Show Page 8 THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Volume IX Issue X March 1, 2004 Isn’t This a Glorious Day? By Drienie Hattingh. Last Saturday, as we drove home, we saw a moose walking across the frozen reservoir! Johan pulled off the road so we could get a closer look. Seeing a moose was still exciting, even though we’d seen countless moose in January. We loved it! We’ve even had a moose in our backyard, walking right past our family room window! It gave us such a thrill! We also saw lots of one of those beautiful brilliant-blue-skyValley-winter-days, with snow-covered mountains and deep snow on the valley floor. And it was so wonderful seeing the moose on this day, right there—at a safe distance—nibbling on a tree. So on Saturday, it wasn’t as though we’d never seen a moose, but, nonetheless, we went out into the freezing cold weather for yet anoth- Corrie with friend Sadie. Lynette with moose in the background. moose in the canyon on the way to Red Rock Ranch while Yolandi and her friend Whitney visited, and then with my sister-in-law Lynette when she came visiting from Africa. And then Lynette and I saw one on the 14th green of the golf course, right in front of our house! It was her last day with us in Utah; we were so excited! What a nice farewell present! We put our coats and boots on and walked outside, sinking into the snow, right up to our knees. We laughed and loved the refreshing snow and cold. “Isn’t this a glorious day?” Lynette wanted to know. It truly was! It was er look. The moose began walking across the ice and I marveled, again, at living in such a place where we can still coexist alongside wild animals. But soon Johan and I began to shiver (the temperatures were in the teens) and we ran back to our warm car. Johan even left the motor running so it would stay nice and warm. But as Johan reached for the door handle, he heard a “click.” Corrie, our little dog, stood looking at Johan, tail wagging, from the inside of the car—his paw on the lock button! We could not believe it! Our dog had just locked us out of our car! Nothing we could do could entice Corrie to go and stand on the lock again, which would unlock the doors. We tried everything! I had a chocolate in my coat pocket. Johan pushed it against the window making yum-yum sounds to draw Corrie back to the window and then, hopefully, to where Corrie would put his paw back on the lock. But Corrie did what he always did when we offer him a treat; he sat down like a good dog, waiting to be handed the treat. People that had stopped behind us to look at the moose, began, instead, looking at Johan. A car stopped and the gentleman driving asked us if we needed help. I wanted to ask them to call AAA. “I have a cell phone—thank you!” Johan answered the nice person before I could. I looked at Johan in amazement, “You have your phone with you?” “Yes,” he answered. “I’ll call AAA, but first I want to see if I can get Corrie to unlock the lock!” Through clattering teeth, I whispered, “Ohhhhh! It’s that ‘man’ thing again. Men do not ask for help.” We stood there for another 20 minutes while Johan played all sort of games with Corrie, trying to entice him to step on the lock. Johan hunched at the corner of the car playing “peek-a-boo” with Corrie—trying to get him to come to the driver’s seat to look where Johan was hiding. Maybe then, hopefully, Corrie would step on that stupid lock. After that did not work, Johan told me to walk with him across the road and hide behind a pile of snow so Corrie might come to the front of the car to look where we were—to entice him, again, to step on the darn, stupid lock. After that did not work, I decided to join the fun—perhaps then I’d forget about my freezing fingers. I suggested we talk to an imaginary “Sadie,” our neighbor’s dog whom Corrie adores. We bent down, talking to and petting an imaginary Sadie—all while calling her name out loud. Corrie went crazy inside the car, trampling on the door trying to see where Sadie was, but he kept on stepping next to the lock instead of on it! That was when I noticed people starting to drive by us very slowly. Again, they weren’t looking at the moose! After our “Sadie” venture failed, I came up with another idea. I went to the driver’s door and called out, “Do you want to go for a walk boy?” I tried to sound very friendly, although I was thinking of what I was going to do to that little dog once that door was open! While rubbing my freezing fingers, I saw my warm gloves lying on the dashboard. Corrie jumped at the door to get out so we could go for a walk. But, still, he did not step on the cursed lock! After that did not work, Corrie decided that he had had enough! He looked at me one more time and then jumped into the back of the car and curled up on his blanket to take a nap. Johan and I looked at each other. I noticed Johan’s nose, ears, and cheeks were as red as the car. I wasn’t sure if it was due to the freezing weather or not. I moved away from Johan, for more than one reason, but mostly because I felt the heat coming from the exhaust and it felt really good on my frozen feet. Johan also started noticing the cars that had Cross country skier and moose eyeball each other. been slowing down as they passed us. And, now, did not think that they were moose-gazing either . . . Yes, they were definitely Hattingh-gazing. He smiled at them as though nothing was wrong and, at last, took his cell phone out of his pocket and called AAA. I thought I would lighten the situation by suggesting that we go and see what the moose on the reservoir was up to while waiting for AAA. I was greeted with a cold stare. “If I never see a moose again, it will be too soon!” Half an hour later, AAA arrived and Corrie decided it would be best to stay out of our way as we fell into our seats and turned the heat on high. A couple of days later, we saw our resident moose again. Johan was as pleased as I was, our adventure a funny memory by now. We stood looking out the window and all of a sudden a cross-country skier went gliding right past our moose! They looked at each other—equally surprised—and, for an instant, locked eyes, both seeming to say, “Hullo you! Isn’t this a glorious day? |
