Advice from a small town girl

The morning of March 5 seemed like any morning. It was a Monday, and as usual, I was moving too slowly to accomplish everything I wanted to do before leaving for work.

I intended to chain the dogs that day, as a part of my (renewed daily but rarely acted upon) intent to stop their wandering. But the clip was rusted shut.

“I’ll fix that when I get home,” I told myself. The dogs were kind of subdued that morning, and I was sure they weren’t going anywhere.

I haven’t seen them since.

I think I should be able, by now, to drive down the Irby hill without looking for them, but I still do.

Now, befor...