No snow all winter, beautiful weather last weekend, and global warming… and six inches of snow fell last night. Actually, it started yesterday afternoon, and by five PM, it was really accumulating. As the snow increased, the client traffic decreased. The phones got quiet as people who don’t know snow became immersed in it, some running out to play, and others getting ready to snuggle in for the night and hibernate. That was my plan; I wasn’t expecting any calls, which just goes to show how wrong you can be.
The first call was for the Lab puppy who had been let out to romp in the snow… in the un-fenced yard…and then in the street… and then under the car. Lots of wound cleaning, and a little sewing, and a lot of pain medicine, and she’ll be okay.
While I was finishing with her, the second case was seeping blood through the home-made bandage on his paw. At home, these folks have that green metal edging around the flower beds. When Max can see it, he just jumps over it, but he couldn’t see it under the snow. The cut wasn’t big, but it was deep and severed a big blood vessel. A little tying-off, a little sewing, pain medicine and a bandage, and he’ll be okay.
Number three was a little Pomeranian whose back had gone out. I guess he could have waited until the next morning, but I was already at the clinic and the owner was willing to brave the storm. I’m glad we got started with his pain meds as soon as possible (though he had to wait for over 3 hours while the other guys got sewed up).
I worked steadily from 6:30 to 10:30 last night in the snow-storm (not OUT in it, thank goodness, like in the old days when I was doing cattle work in Pocahontas, Arkansas). This morning, we have a bright, sun-shiny day, though the streets are a bit icy. No clients, though. Only two folks showed up. My receptionist called to check on them and while only one actually asked, "Are you crazy?!", they pretty much all conveyed the same idea (in a more polite way). [And so what if she is? We want to know if you’re going to show up for your appointment.]
Yeah, I figured that "snow business" would be "no business", but last night sure fooled me.