On Almost Losing a Finger and Sophie's Killing Spree Continues

Recently, I decided that the Doerr family should focus on sampling the recreation opportunities in Oklahoma. Part of my motivation comes from wanting to see more of my home state and the other was the need to find something to do close to home. I've always found it annoying when people say that Oklahoma has nothing to offer and then when asked, they admit that they've not been to any of the state parks, museums or other offerings. I didn't want to be that person, so I've been making some effort in this area. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished.

I had never even heard of Oxley Nature Park, but it's in Mohawk Park near the zoo. From the website, I learned that there are walking trails, lakes, wildlife and more (!) So, I told Blake about our weekend plans. He was OK with going, though the forecasted heat didn't make him happy. Cayton was noncommittal but given that she pretty much has to do what I say made me confident that she would go.

When we arrived at the Oxley Nature Park Visitor's Center, we headed in to get our trail map. One of the volunteers asked us if we had bug spray and added that using it would be HIGHLY recommended. So, Blake took Cayton outside and started spraying her down with whatever spray Oxley provided. I grabbed a trail map and joined them out on the deck to get sprayed as well. Cayton was covered pretty good by the time I got out there, but we decided that we should use the bug spray wipes to get her face covered. It's funny how when you review an event in your head, you can often pinpoint the second that everything went to hell. This was such a moment.

I innocently reached into Cayton's diaper bag to grab the bug spray wipes. As it was a new cannister of wipes, I had to push the first wipe through the hole in the lid. Good God Almighty Cutter, but do you have to use weapons grade plastic in your wipes lids??? I found the first wipe, pushed it through the hole in lid with my left pointer finger and found that my finger was stuck. If you've ever seen one of those lids, you'll remember that they have little triangles that clasp the wipe. Well, apparently Cutter feels that these little triangles should be honed to deadly little spikes to avoid losing a wipe. Never mind that my finger was caught in a bug wipe chastity belt thingy.

It took me a minute to realize that I was in trouble. I stood there staring at my finger, every available option running through my head in the space of a couple of seconds.

"Blake, Oh my God, my finger is stuck and I can't get this thing off!"

"What, what's wrong?" Blake adopted a look of concern, but I know he really just summoned every bit of strength to keep from rolling around laughing at me.

"Why did you stick your finger in there?"

"Oh, just for shits and giggles I guess. Can you please just help me get this off of my finger!!????" At this point, my attitude started to dissolve into hysteria. Every attempt to remove the lid was extremely painful and those little triangles were digging into my fingertip. I kept talking but it made less and less sense. It crossed my mind that I would probably break pretty quickly if I were ever tortured for state secrets.

I think I was almost at the point of jumping up and down and tears had started to gather in the corners of my eyes. It was a do or die/lose a finger moment. So, I looked at my poor purple finger tip and took a deep breath. I bent my finger so as to put the pressure on my finger nail and just pulled. It slid a bit painfully off of my finger. The relief was palpable, for me at least. I think Blake pointed out at that I probably shouldn't have pushed my finger so far through the hole and then he laughed his ass off. I hate him.

After I gathered myself following the bug wipe incident, we headed out to discover Oxley. We were surprised to find that the park was extensive and that the trails were groomed and well marked. We had the map out and headed toward one of the lakes. About 5 minutes into the walk, Cayton looked at me and said, "Me carrot", or something like that. This is her request for me to carry her. It seems that whenever Cayton is faced with the prospect of walking more than a few feet, it becomes my job to wag her around. She insists that only Mommy can carry her. It's tiring, but at least I'm beginning to develop some nice arms.

I think the other big miscalculation that I made was taking the family to the woods after a month of rain. If you think the bugs and mosquitoes in your yard are bad, you've not been to the woods in late spring. I can honestly say that I've never seem mosquitoes swarm; now I have. There were so many bugs flying around that they were actually crashing into us. About an hour in, we surrendered. It was great, but wiping bug juice off of my arms and legs really started to dampen my spirits.


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Sophie is one of the sweetest dogs I've ever known. She's really right up there with my childhood dog, Thumper. She just lives to get our attention and she is in heaven if you pet her. Truly, it's her favorite thing in the world.

Like many serial killers, Sophie does not display any homicidal tendencies. She looks sweet, she loves to play with Cayton and she mostly just sleeps and eats. However, it is now undeniable that she has declared jihad on birds and more recently, possums.

Blake has become the coroner at our house. When we get a report of a dead body, I call him to the kitchen and send him out into the backyard to clean up the crime scene. He's really getting pissed off about this new household duty. However, he has developed a process to dispose of the carcasses. He covers a dustpan with a plastic grocery bag, grabs a big trashbag and he has gloves. That's how often this has happened. He actually has a process.

It is sometimes hard to believe that Sophie has such a mean streak, but I've actually seen her attack a bird. She sits on the deck, looking innocent and bored. Then, when a bird swoops too low, she leaps straight up in the air and grabs the bird in her powerful bull dog jaws. It's really gruesome, not to mention a little sad. But she seems powerless to resist the temptation. She does nothing with the animals that she kills. She just leaves them in a heap on the deck for us to find. She shows no remorse. I guess that's typical of a sociopath.