A Wild Time in Walsenburg!

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Just in case anyone in the universe missed the news yesterday…. This   is what happened in Walsenburg. Around 9:45am, Dan called to tell me that he might be late getting home from lunch. He’d gone to get gas at the Acorn when suddenly everything went crazy. He got over to George’s Drive Inn and managed to grab a burger while waiting to see if he could get out of the area. He finally ended going up over the hogback and through the back side of town to get home. He also got the chance to talk to our local sheriff, Bruce Newman.

Meanwhile, Daniel and some of his work buddies were getting gas as well. Everyone got hung up. My parents were trying to come home from Pueblo where they’d gone early this morning for groceries. I don’t know how long it took them to get home. Oh, and Morgan and I were suppose to go to Pueblo to do some shopping. We got delayed and had to go out of town by the southern exits. We passed the scene and could see the car and the traffic backed up for miles.

We got our shopping done, had lunch at Bingo Burger and still managed to be caught in the traffic jam. We did see the Dougherty Gang being taken in convoy to Pueblo. Lots and Lots of law enforcement vehicles with flashing lights.

It certainly has been a media circus. Walsenburg’s one day of fame. Now to going back to a quiet sleepy town in Southern Colorado.

There are days…

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That I hate the phone. Marvelous communications tool that it is, there are days that I would rather it not ring. Of course, those are usually the days that I am VERY glad to have the damned box.

Early Tuesday morning, my two grandsons, Gavin, 4.5 and Talon, 2.5 woke up, broke down the baby gate, got frozen tv dinners out of the fridge and when they discovered that they were too cold to eat, stacked things up and got to the locks on the front door. They went for a walk. This was about 4-5am. They were picked up by the police about 1.5 blocks from home. They were taken back to the house and the police woke up Bryan. Katie was at work.  Of course, the police took the boys to the station, gave them clothes, toys, treats, movies, etc… Bryan got a citation for third degree child endangerment. DHS visited, the cops visited again, etc…. DHS checked out the house, said the back door lock was tight and shouldn’t be a problem, but they needed to get a chain on the front door.

Bryan missed work, they got the locks on the door and chaos was supreme. Bryan and Katie were aghast that the boys did this. Of course, living in Arkansas doesn’t help either.

Of course, they called me. A lot. Oh, and don’t forget the texts.

Yesterday morning, Bryan again wakes to the sound of police knocking at the door. The boys broke the baby gate again, couldn’t get out the front door, so they got out the back door. They only got half a block away this time. The same policeman arrested Bryan after giving him a citation for second degree endangerment. Katie of course had just gotten off of work and was dealing with the boys while Bryan went to jail.

Once again, the phone began to ring.

Many phone conversations later, including some which were NOT so pleasant, we find that Bryan had been released on his own recognizance. He was suppose to change clothes and get to work. What you have to understand is that Bryan works at a swanky country club in Arkansas. So does his brother Stefan. The chairman of the board of the club is the Chief of police. Stefan called in a favor. So, Bryan got out of jail, got yet another lock that was put on the OUTSIDE of the back door and then went to work.

More phone calls.

As the dawn began to break, I wondered if 1) the boys had been kept inside or escaped again, 2) if Bryan or Katie got any sleep 3) if the phone was going to ring again.

It did.

The boys did stay inside. Locks, baby gate, Bryan sleeping in front of their bedroom door, etc. Bryan and Katie did get some sleep. Enough so that Bryan went to work. Today, he’s seeing a probono lawyer who also is a board member at the country club from what I understand, about the case. He is due to go to court on August 11th.

I have to admit, that the whole lawyer and police chief involvement gives me the creeps. Granted, the police rewarding the boys bad behavior bothers me too. Around here, things would have been handled differently. Even DHS said that the cops shouldn’t have arrested Bryan or given him a second ticket. sigh…

I expect the phone will ring more in the next few days…

It’s 4am in the morning…

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And what is that noise???

We woke to hearing the front door open and then a thud and a crash. Dan went to go look, and we had a drunk on our living room floor. He’d walked right in and fell over my desk chair. (the crash noise). He was Really Drunk. Couldn’t get up off the floor type drunk. He passed out and Dan called the police to come pick him up.

This is where it got a bit funny. In a Keystone Kops kind of way. First off, they knew who it was. Knew him by name. Second, when they tried to handcuff him, he got belligerent. When he refused to obey, they hit him with pepper spray. Oh the hollering… Both the drunk and the cop… the cop got it right down the lungs. Dan gave him two big glasses of water. Then the drunk wouldn’t stand up, Of course, we have 8 very steep stairs up to the house, so they had to carry him down the stairs. Then he wouldn’t get in the police car. By this time, there were two police cars and two ambulances in front of our house at 4:30am! I of course am stuck in the bedroom because of the pepper spray all over the living room.  Dan is watching this circus from the front door. he was laughing and giggling. Especially when the cops lost his keys… They had gotten knocked out of his pocket in the struggle with the drunk. They finally got the guy in the car around 5am. We didn’t press charges, just told them to throw the drunk in the drunk tank for the night.

We aired the house and finally fell back asleep around 6am. Gads, what an odd ball adventure. Oh yeah…. it was a full moon last night too. Of course, it has been rather the week for oddball things. Two nights ago, a dog attacked Spike while he was asleep. So, we woke to a dogfight at 1am.  Dan and Ian went out and discovered that Spike was bitten, and no sign of the other dog. Spike is now recovering with us. Two big nasty gashes on his shoulders and lots of bite marks on his legs. Lots of stitches  No idea what the other dog came out like. Spike of course is doing a Big job of looking Pitiful. Good grief! So much for the awesome and fearful reputation of pit bulls. I think we should have named him Marshmallow or Buttercup. 🙂