Tuesday, January 03, 2006

What a great day, and it is only the 3rd of 2006!

I was supposed to do some company research today despite the fact that these are my holidays. But as I noticed to enjoy my days off so much I called a colleague yesterday to help me out on this one. So today I started the day at 10.00h in my bathrobe with a large cappuccino, some croissants, strawberry marmalade and a newspaper looking out over a snow covered polder (smelling the flowers ;-)

Our Amsterdam backyard is adjacent to a creek, a big river and a dike in between where people ramble and dogs can run and play. I was blogging..eeehhh studying later on in the morning when all of a sudden a small crowd gathered across the water watching a Jack Russel treading water for its life. As the creek is frozen nowadays, the little dog was unable to get out of the hole and was losing strength very rapidly.

Last year our cat died alike so this time I could run downstairs, quickly put on a pair of old shoes and jumped in. For me it was rather easy to break the ice and get to the little howling beast but it was hypothermic already. I threw the dog over to my girlfriend after which Jack and herself hit the showers for about 15 minutes. The 14 year old girl that was walking the dog couldn’t stop crying but Jack slowly warmed up and started to shiver again (which seems to be a good sign for a Jack Russel).

As our boarding is about two meters high and ice cold water benumbed my muscles as well, I couldn’t get out of the water myself. The lady next door threw in a white leather chair (“are you sure, that’s a leather chair!” I shouted. “So what, It’s only a chair” she yelled back) where I could stand on and she helped me out by pulling my pants. “I hope that don’t hurt”, she shouted in my ear quasi humoristic while pulling. I didn’t tell her that after 10 minutes of bathing in ice water there remains little to be hurt :-)

Anyway, the girl’s father arrived shortly and took tail wagging mr. Russel, all wrapped up, home. When we arrived home tonight from a little Amsterdam shopping we found a beautiful bouquet at the front door with a thank you card attached saying Jack is fine now.

Moral of today: Lil' Jack hittin the showers with your woman sure beats doing company research..

6 comments:

Vee said...

Dimitri - well done! *clap clap* Ofcourse, I'm thrilled! Now I also understand your enthusiastic response to my latest post re: year of the dog. :)

Unknown said...

Congratulations on your bravery and compassion in saving the little dog. Had there not been other bystanders it might have gone much the worse for you but obviously that was not your priority. Bless you.
Your description of your view is wonderful and reminds me most poignantly of my visits to Europe, as does your breakfast. Oh, how I loved Continental breakfasts seated on a wrought iron balcony. Thank you for moments of wonderful memories.
Thank you, also, for your missive. I will respond.

Lisa said...

Nicely done, Dimitri! Hugs from a dog lover abroad.

Gary said...

Dimitri - I admire your courage, response, compassion and humour. I suspect your girlfriend is quite the woman too...bravo!

Nerdine said...

I liked your neighbor's response - it's only a chair... Shows that she's got the right priorities. As for you - You've got a new name now - SuperDimitri the Russel Rescuer.

Big star in my book

:)

Tina said...

Aaaaww... what else can be said Dimitri? Your karma rating just shot up right thru the roof... my dearly departed kitty (who you so kindly commented on at my blog) is smiling down upon you. Thank you so much for leaving that beautiful poem... it made me cry... but then again, I haven't really stopped crying since Thursday night. Thank you. Your kindness was just what I needed. A big hug from me in Ohio to you in Amsterdam. ;)