My allegiance is to the Road Runner

It was my morning to drive the kids to school today. As were driving down the driveway towards the road, one of the girls said, "Hey, look! There's a deer in the field!" Of course Kaitlin jerks her head around frantically searching for a glimpse of the wild life. I, on the other hand, am used to multiple deer sightings a day so was less than enthused and continued driving. "That's not a deer, " shrieked Anna, "that's a coyote!" Screeeeeeeech! The car comes to a stop and the supposed responsible adult yelps in fear, "Where?!?! A coyote?!! Where is it?!" As my eyes are directed to the coyote in the front field, all I can think of is our dog, Baxter, lazing around the yard. Oh no, I think, that coyote is going to eat Baxter in one bite! I do anything a rational adult would do and start to panic. Might I add, that the kids are calm this entire transaction... I started laying on the horn and yelling, but the coyote does not budge. So, the next thing to do is to protect Baxter from his impending doom and to get him in the car with us. Now, I was quite a distance from the front porch he was sunning on (think about 1/4 mile) and if I called him, the dog would have just barely avoid the coyote's path.

If Baxter ran straight to me. If the coyote stayed put.

Well, of course, this is my life so neither of those two things happened. Baxter came running at my call, but saw the coyote mid stride and started to chase the thing! Kids, still calm in the back seat- Me, freaking out!!!

"Baxter, get back here now- the coyote will!eat!you!" I scream. The dog continues to chase, I continue to scream. The dog crosses the road into reservoir property. I continue to scream. The dog runs further and further away. I continue to scream. Now granted, I did not use profanity... but I was a tad bit out of control trying to get the dog in the car. By now, I had no idea where he was. I am sure the coyote had him up on a spit by now and was preparing a tasty salad to go with Baxter. I hop back in the car to drive up the road to find our dog. There! There he is! just standing barking a severe warning to that coyote and awaiting his carriage ride. He came running towards me up and over the wall (it's private, city owned property, with gates and locks and such) as if to say, "Look, Mom, I've protected you... ain't I great?!" Oh gosh... Yes, Baxter is great, but not in the sense that he goes well with leafy greens and a nice vinaigrette.