A FLUTTER OF WINGS

Bad Decisions Have Consequences

Unless a guardian angel sacks the Grim Reaper

Barbara Andres
5 min readFeb 25, 2023

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Photo by author — all rights reserved

Our last weekend away could have ended in tragedy. Thank dog it didn’t.

That’s not a typo.

With three scary near-misses behind us — that I know of — I’m convinced a black-and-white guardian angel stands between us and the Grim Reaper — at least when he’s come for one of our dogs.

Tommy, circa 2003. Photo by author — all rights reserved.

As I sit here, they’re all snoring nearby. The two little ones are bundled up in blankets on the desk. The bigger one is guarding the house from her spot in the hall. Bizarre winter storms are wreaking havoc across our state, but we’re all safe and warm. Not so much three weeks ago.

A simple stop to switch drivers (human) and to answer the call of nature (dog) at a McDonald’s near Baker, California could have stolen four-year-old goofball Maggie from us.

Two hours into a five-hour trip from Las Vegas, we pulled over into the far corner of a McDonald’s parking lot to switch drivers. For mid-morning, the place was weirdly busy, but we weren’t anywhere near the store so we paid no mind to the…

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Barbara Andres

Muddling through, one story at a time. Grab a cup of tea, pull up a chair, and let’s get curious together.