I don't consider myself to be a particularly good person with pets or children and aside from my own (to which I have grown accustomed to and love of course) I hardly know what to say or do with anyone else's.

Anyway, early this morning I decided that I would go out for a brisk walk which has been my exercise of choice for a while. Granted, it was about 42 degrees with a strong wind and light drizzle and I hadn't gone out in about a month, but I had just bought some outdoorsy type bad weather gear the day before so that I wouldn't have an excuse not to exercise. Besides I was looking forward to the Peace On Earth that generally accompanies Christmas morning (as I listened to a podcast of Sunday's "Meet The Press" on my iPod.

About 5 minutes from home, before I walk into a local nature preserve, I see a dog that's hanging out in a driveway but looks kind of lost. Not being good with pets, I just assumed the owner was inside and I ignored it. A few minutes later as I was in the preserve, all sound muffled by the iPod and the protection of a hoodie and a rain jacket, I barely hear the sound of metal jangling behind me. It's the dog - a black part-Labrador mutt with white spots on it's legs. I'm not totally heartless and obviously the dog trusts me, so I bend down and call her over. "Oreo" says the tag and it's got a phone number. Only problem is, I left without my cell phone, I'm in the middle of a place that purposefully has no modern amenities and there is absolutely no one in sight.

Not really knowing what to do, I continue my walk and Oreo is following me (while occasionally sniffing the ground for an appropriate spot to relieve herself). It's frickin' cold and I'm really feeling sorry for her. It takes about 10 minutes to get the other end of the trail where there's a firehouse - I figure I can find some kind of telephone - but it's closed up tight of course. Not much firefighting on Christmas morning. Not wanting to have Oreo follow me unleashed on a dangerous main street towards the local CVS (which was still a good 5 blocks or so away), I decided to walk her towards my house through the residential neighborhood, hoping that someone would appear that I could ask for a phone.

Finally, as I was only three blocks away from my house, and after I successfully prevented Oreo from chasing a rabbit into the woods (phew!), I flagged down a couple in a yellow hummer who probably thought I was an idiot walking my dog without a leash. Luckily, they stopped and when I explained the situation they lent me their cell phone. I only got the owner's answering machine, but left a message with my name and number and mentioned that I was going to try to lead Oreo to my home and keep her in the backyard. I was really hoping the owner hadn't gone away for the holidays. I thanked the couple in the Hummer, we wished each other Merry Christmas, and then Oreo and I continued our trek until we got to my house. Oreo was so friendly and obedient, I actually began to understand those stories where a kid finds a dog in the street and just forms a bond right away.

When I got home, I told my wife (who is a vet and THE queen of animal lovers) to keep our own two dogs inside while she tried calling all the numbers on all the tags Oreo had - her owner, her vet, the local SPCA. No answers. While we were waiting for a response, I hung out in the back, still freezing, with Oreo, while the wife prepared a bowl of dog food. When she opened the door to let Oreo in, I heard a commotion - it turns out the owners teen-aged son had came by to pick Oreo up. The owner had left a message saying her husband and son were coming but I guess we didn't get it amidst all the other calls we were trying to make. The young man couldn't thank us enough and must have said "Merry Christmas" three times - he probably didn't see the unlit electric menorah in the window that I've been too lazy to take down. :-)

All's well that ends well - I felt really proud of something I had done for the first time in a long time. And when I think of all the improbable circumstances that led me to help Oreo back to her home, I have to say it was a true Christmas miracle!