Columbus

Sustainable Food Summit 2011

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Last week, on Earth Day, I had the great opportunity to spend the day learning about the future of sustainable food.  The, What is Sustainable Food? Summit, was put together by the OSU chapter of Net Impact and Local Matters.

The goal of the summit was to discuss:

  • What sustainable food is.
  • The future of sustainable food.
  • What people are doing to support the effort.
  • Local businesses who focus on running a greener business.

It was an all day summit starting at 9am and running until 3pm.  The event was put on for free and everyone was welcome to attend. This event was also a Zero Waste event meaning that everything used for food was either compostable or recycleable.

Attendees were also encouraged to bring their own water bottles and coffee mugs.

The summit was held in the 4H building at OSU.  I didn’t get a chance to chat with anyone about the building so unfortunately I can’t provide any stats on it.  I do know that it’s a new building and it’s OSU’s first green building on campus.

One of the presenters at the summit was Warren Taylor from Snowville Creamery. I was excited to see some Snowville half and half provided for the morning coffee.  Real half and half is a nice treat to have in my coffee every so often and if I’m going to do it, then I would prefer it to be from Snowville!

The summit was jam packed with presenters and information.  Two speakers and two panel discussions.

The first speaker was Ken Meter who is from Minnesota. He’s been doing research on sustainable food and the farming efforts across the country.  He was pleased by the efforts he has seen in Ohio and gave some great examples of people who are striving to make a difference.

He talked about:

  • What does sustainable food mean.
  • Where the country is now in terms of food sources.
  • Where it needs to go to become better.

It was an extremely informative lecture! Not only did it provide information on what America needs to do in terms of creating a better food supply, it also discussed how big businesses are in charge of deciding the current diet.

Next up was a panel discussion:

  • Jill Clark – Director Center for Farmland Policy Innovation
  • Jeff Sharp – Professor of Rural Sociology
  • Carol Goland – the Executive Director of OEFFA (I’ve discussed OEFFA previously.).

They each discussed what sustainable food means to them and then answered questions from the audience.  One interesting point they brought up was that the majority of people think our current food system is fine so they don’t consider changing it or seeing a need to change it.

For example, people go to the store where they can purchase everything in one place, and then they go home. It’s easy and convenient therefore they don’t take the time to consider where that food comes from, how it was processed/grown, and how that could directly impact their health.

This is a great point and definitely explains why people are still purchasing factory farmed meat and strawberries from Peru at their local grocery store.

We broke for lunch which was provided by Two Caterers and I was pleased to see there were some vegetarian options available.

After lunch we heard from a panel of local businesses who are striving to create and improve,  best green practices.

On the panel was:

  • Amy Brennick – COO of Betty’s Group of Restaurants
  • Mike Minnix – Eartha Limited
  • Michael Jones – Director of Local Matters and Owner of Greener Grocer
  • Adam Welly – Owner of Wayward Seed Farm

They discussed a lot about their current efforts to be more earth friendly and also brought up goals that each of them have for the current year.  Amy said that Betty’s Group is going to try and become a zero waste group by the end of the year.

That’s huge!

For restaurants to become zero waste is a pretty big deal. I’m excited to see how this progresses and what it means for other restaurants in Columbus.

The last speaker, was Warren and he talked about the fight for sustainable food.  How the government isn’t going to support this effort because it would mean money missing from their wallets.  The government and big corporations don’t care about your health or your right to quality food. They care about money.

It was a pretty intense talk and drove home the fact that we all need to start caring about our food supply a little more because it not only will help us but help future generations.

At the end of the conference I was lucky enough to be able to sample some of Snowville’s new chocolate milk that they are now distributing and selling.  It’s AMAZING! Easily the best chocolate milk I have ever had.  If you’re going to consume dairy, go local and support Snowville (this goes for you too, Cleveland and Cincy!).

The summit provided a great deal of food for thought and I was very happy that I had the chance to attend.  I hope that there are more events like this around Columbus to help raise awareness of the concept of sustainable food and supporting local businesses.

Making burgers with Josh Ozersky

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If you recall my post from yesterday, I mentioned that Josh Ozersky would be at the Columbus Home and Garden Show on Thursday of this week.  I got the chance to attend his burger making demo and had a great time!

Amy Weirick was my contact for the evening and I met up with her as I was making my way towards the demo pavilion.  She told me to go right on back through the curtains and introduce myself to Tara, who was working with Amy, and to Josh.

I did just that and I think I surprised everybody!  I tend to have that affect on folks.

I introduced myself and my blog and then introduced Scott.  He was in charge of picture taking for the evening.

They were in the midst of making burgers when I entered backstage and I got a first hand demonstration from Josh on how to make his favorite burgers.  We got to taste two, a cheeseburger and then an onion cheeseburger.

I apologize for lack of pictures of this part! It was dark and we were eating burgers at the time.

It was time for the demo to start and Josh explained briefly how the burger got started and why he loves it.  He also talked to the audience about his three choices of muscle meats that make up his burgers.  He had all three cuts of meats out that he was going to cook up and have all of us in the audience taste.  However the demo stage range wasn’t cooperating fully and those plans got kiboshed.

During the whole demo, Josh was also fielding questions from the audience about his burgers, favorite styles, and his meat choices.

Then Josh went into detail about how to make the perfect burger and I can assure you that the technique isn’t what you are thinking at all.  I was totally surprised and it made me want to head home and make some burgers!

He demoed each of his burgers, the cheeseburger and onion burger, twice, then he brought out samples for the audience.  I have to tell you that the onion burger is my favorite style.  Simple and so very delicious.  The onion burger he created was his first public demonstration of how to make it.  Go Columbus!

He then went on to explain a third burger to us, his version of the Maid-Rite.  Do you know what a Maid-Rite is?

Nobody in the audience did except for me, so I got to go up and explain them! Maid-Rite is a loose meat sandwich of ground beef, which conceptually is like a sloppy-joe except it doesn’t have a tomato based sauce. There are lots of different recipes out there and Josh’s version has beer in it, which you know I’m all about.

He passed those out to the audience too however Scott and I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to taste them.  I should have asked some of the audience members what they thought about it!  I had sloppy-joes and different versions of loose-meat sandwiches a lot growing up.

Josh’s demo was just over an hour and was completely informative on how to make burgers and that the cuts of meats are just as important as well.

I was able to get a chance to speak with him again after the show and thanked him for taking the time to chat with me and show me his burger technique.  He wanted us to have burgers in the photo but there were none to be had so he quickly grabbed a cookie for a prop.

Then we moved to the stage which had better more appropriate props!

Foodies clearly should be holding kitchen implements in photos and ours just happened to be sharp and pointy!

I had a great time at the event and I have Amy to thank for it!

I’ll be talking more about Josh’s burger techniques in some upcoming posts so keep on the lookout for those!

You can find Josh on his website and his twitter page.  If you at all interested in burger making and the history of the burger, snag his book!

Josh Ozersky at the Home and Garden Show

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Hey gang! If you haven’t made it to the Home and Garden show yet this week, tonight would be the perfect time to go! Along with seeing all the fabulous things that are new and upcoming for the garden this year, lots of guest appearances are being made at this event.

Tonight, Josh Ozersky will be there giving a demo on making burgers.  He’s a food writer (James Beard award winner!) and wrote a book all about burgers.

We love us some burgers!

He’ll be giving a demo tonight at 6pm in the Bricker Multi-Purpose Building on the Giant Eagle Home Idea Stage.

Scott and I will be there tonight, so if you go, give me a shoutout and we can meet up!

Don’t forget the Home and Garden show wraps up this Saturday! So you only have a few days left to make it over there.

For more information about the Home and Garden show, click here.

Hiking Day

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On Sunday, I skipped a run and opted to go hiking at Highbanks instead with Scott, our friend Bob, and his boys.  We hiked the trail that took us out to the observation deck.  Despite the fact that we did have snow recently, we’ve also had lots of rain and warmer weather.  I fully expected the trails to be a total muddy mess and dressed accordingly.  Old running pants and old running shoes.

What I didn’t expect was that there would still be snow and ice covering the trails.  Whoops!

Had I known this I would have worn my YakTrax as well because the trails were really slick and you had to be careful when going up and down the hills.  I also would have doubled up on socks because my feet ended up getting soaked making me cold.  I would have liked to hike some more but sadly I was too chilly.

We were on our way to visit the eagle’s nest that you could see from the observation deck.  Two bald eagles have been living there at least for a year but it could be longer.  I was having trouble tracking down information.  Last year from what I could find, they did have two babies.

Eagles mate for life and now is the peak time for when they would be incubating eggs if they have them.  Both parents take turns incubating the eggs.  Apparently eagles used to be really common in Ohio and are currently making their way back.

We hiked out hoping to get a view of them.  I’ve never seen eagles before!

The nest is pretty substantial in size. Enough that from the observation deck you can see the dark mass nestled in the tree top.  I spoke with another couple that was there and they told me that the eagles had been switching positions in the nest all morning.  Roughly changing shifts about every 15 to 20 minutes.  Because of that, they believed there may be some eggs in the nest.  That behavior and the fact that this would be normal egg incubation season, it’s a high probability that there are some babies waiting to be born soon.

We waited and watched but didn’t get to see any eagles that day. Next time we go, we are bringing some nice binocs for sure to get a closer look.

Ohio Metro Parks will be creating a live cam for the eagles later this year.  They will announce the cam on their website.

On our loop back to the car, we passed some trees that look to have been scratched up.  Bits of bark were scraped off the trees and laying scattered all around the bottom of it.  Really strange!

Was that done on purpose, do you think? And if so what animal is scraping all the bark off the tree? It went all the way to the top!

The best part about the day though was that we got some sun!

Hooray!  As you know from me complaining, sun has been scarce this winter. I was definitely glad to be out in the fresh air and getting some sun on my face.

We had a lovely day and then Scott whisked me away and treated me to breakfast.

Have you ever seen eagles before (at a zoo doesn’t count!)? Do you ever go hiking?

Living with Tornado Watches

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Moving to Columbus or just Ohio in general means that you will be dealing with the high possibility of tornadoes.  This was something that I was not aware of when I moved here.

Ohio is considered the Midwest and the Midwest deals with tornadoes.  However when you think about “The Midwest”, you think of places farther west like Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. Kansas and Oklahoma as well.  Places where the storm chasers live and where the chance of seeing Auntie Em’s house flying away is probable.

But Ohio is not immune to tornadoes and dealing with the crazy weather that brings them here.

I didn’t know this.

Oh I grew up with some serious thunderstorms and sometimes a watch would be issued but no one paid any attention to that because where we lived was not a tornado happy place.  The chances of it happening were slim to none.

Here the crazy storms and such didn’t phase me.  I grew up only three hours east of here, how different can it be, was my mentality.

In fact, we’ve lived in Ohio going on 6 years now and 5 of those years have been in a suburb of Columbus which is in Franklin County.  Franklin County has a tornado siren system that goes off when a tornado watch or warning has been issued.  There is also a weekly test of the system on Wednesdays at Noon.

I didn’t realize this until about, oh last year sometime.

Yup.

See, where I grew up, my town had a volunteer fire department.  There were sirens located all around town that went off letting the volunteers know they needed to haul it to the department, get their gear on, and head out to a fire.  There was also a weekly test every Saturday at noon.  Those sirens and the sirens here sound exactly alike.

Since I grew up with sirens going off all the time and knowing it wasn’t for me, that meant I didn’t have to pay attention to it.  Eventually it becomes background noise and you reach a point where you don’t even notice them anymore.

Fast forward to living here with sirens going off and guess what?  I’m not paying attention to it because I thought it was for something else not related to me.  It wasn’t until last year, during a particularly bad storm that the sirens were going off at a rapid rate.  Enough that it was finally not background noise any longer but something I was fully aware of, at which point it dawned on me, “Oh wow! Maybe that’s a tornado warning or a warning about the storm.”  Causing me to log online and see if we were under a watch of some kind.

Now you may be thinking to yourself that I must be totally daft but when you grow up in an environment that doesn’t deal with a specific type of weather threat, then it really doesn’t enter your mind as a possibility.

This is true no matter where one lives. For example, the South and snow aren’t really friends are they?  The East doesn’t have to worry about earthquakes like the West.  Coastal states deal with hurricanes and tropical storms while landlocked states do not.

The concept of tornadoes are new to me.  And when one isn’t from Ohio and you move here, you don’t get an instruction manual.  There’s no pamphlet telling you what tornado sirens are and what you’re supposed to do when they go off.

In fact, it took some major digging and summoning up serious Google-Fu to even find anything on the sirens and what course of action to take.  The reason I started looking was because last night we got hit with a very serious thunderstorm.  At 4:30am the sirens started going off and went off A LOT with the cycles very close to one another.  I love thunderstorms but last night had me concerned.  While Scott and Rocky slept, I searched the web to figure out what we were supposed to do.

I didn’t find much but what I did find, I’ll share with you because maybe you’re new to Ohio as well.  Maybe you’ve never had to deal with tornadoes before either.

What to do when the Tornado Sirens Sound:

Link to Franklin County’s Emergency Warning System

Link to the Warning System Fact Sheet (PDF)

The sirens sound when ever a tornado watch or warning has been issued.

A WATCH means that the current conditions are good for a tornado to form.

A WARNING means that a tornado has been spotted some where and to take shelter some place.

To find out which your county is under, check your local news stations.  For Columbus we have:

10TV

10TV also has a Facebook Page for it’s weather department.

NBC4i

There is also AccuWeather and for storm tracking with real time radar, there is Storm Pulse.  It is the best weather tracking site I’ve found.

When the sirens go off, keep an eye on the weather outside your window and check the above sites to see if there is a watch or warning in your area.  Stay alert and pay attention.  You’ll know when to take to the basement to seek shelter because it will either be on the news OR the weather will be bad enough that you’ll start to get nervous.  When that happens, listen to your instinct and just head to the basement or lowest part of your house.  Have bottled water, snacks, and blankets handy in the event that you’re there for a while.

The sirens will stop when the watch or warning has been lifted.  Keep checking the weather to see when that happens.

I hope that helps some of you who are like me, and are new to this situation. Stay safe and have those links bookmarked for easy access for when you need them.

Win Tickets to 2011 Columbus Home and Garden Show

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It’s spring time! The weather may be damp and dreary but spring is just around the corner. And that means that the Columbus Home and Garden Show is here! This year’s theme is Gardens that Rock and all things that can be done with rocks and stones for your home.

For more information, you can read a Dispatch article on it here.

Want to go?

Lucky for you that OHC is giving away tickets to the show! Good for whatever day you wish to go! I’ve got plenty of tickets to go around so I’ll be picking a few winners via random number generator.

Here’s all the rules and info:

What: FREE tickets to the Home and Garden Show

When: Feb. 26th – March 6th (Closed Feb. 28th)

Where: Ohio Expo Center

RULES:

  • All you have to do is comment on this post explaining why you’d like to go to the show. I’ll pick a winner on Saturday morning and announce the winners then as well.
  • Contest closes at 9am Saturday, Feb. 26th.
  • You need to provide me with a valid email address so I can contact you.
  • You will have 24 hours to respond to the email, if you do not, I will pick another winner.
  • Contest open to Ohio residents only.

How fun, right?! Maybe I’ll see you at the show!

WINNERS ANNOUNCED:

And the winners are ALL OF YOU!

That’s right friends! I had 8 tickets to give away and you all get one! Hooray!  Have fun at the show! I’ll be in touch. :)

Slow Food Columbus

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I recently attended my first Slow Food Columbus meeting.  I have been to a few classes sponsored by Slow Food but this was my first official Slow Food meeting and I’m really looking forward to becoming more involved with this group.

Slow Food is the exact opposite of fast food.  The Slow Food motto is “Good, clean, and fair food”.

For those of you that have been following me for a while you know that there are several things I support:

  • Cooking at home
  • Shopping at local businesses
  • Educating yourself on where your food comes from
  • Choosing to eat foods that are local and clean

Slow Food represents all of these things and I’m happy to have found a connection with like minded people.  By putting on classes, creating tastings, and events that feature local farmers, Slow Food makes educating ourselves about the foods we eat a little easier.  They show us how simple it is to eat well and eat local.

At the meeting, I learned that there are 5 Different Areas of Slow Food Columbus you can become involved in:

  • Conviviality
  • Biodiversity
  • Taste Education
  • Food Policy
  • Slow Food in Schools

For more information about what each group does, please Click Here. There is also contact information for the chairs of each committee and they would be happy to talk with you about becoming involved.

You can read more about Slow Food Columbus HERE and with even more contact information available. Or you can Follow Slow Food Columbus on Twitter or on Facebook.

You can become a member of Slow Food USA, which is the parent group, for $25 per year.  From that website you’ll be able to see if there is a Slow Foods chapter in your area. If not, you can find information about starting one!

Will I see you at the next Slow Food Columbus event? I hope so!

Are you involved with Slow Food? Have you heard about the program before?

2011 Fantastic Frigid 5K

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Two years ago I just started running.

Two years ago I was unexperienced and new to everything.

Two years ago I was under-trained.

Two years ago I wasn’t as strong.

Two years ago I said, “Never again.”

A lot has changed in two years.

The Fantastic Frigid 5k is a race put on by Columbus Running Company.  It’s a January race at a park on the outskirts of Columbus. It’s a “trail” race in the sense that it takes place in a park that is unpaved.  There are some pea gravel sections and a “wooded” section that is single track trail running.

It’s pretty flat with a few inclines and lots of loop arounds.

It’s meant to be a fun race and to get us outside in January.  A nice way to kick off the start of the year and what will soon be spring half and full training for most.

Two years ago it was my very first race.

Ever.

Two years ago I had only been running 3 miles for a short time.

Two years ago I didn’t understand what a “trail” race really meant.

Two years ago my ignorance caught up to me and I was left feeling frustrated and upset. It was totally my own fault! You can read all about it here.

I wanted a do-over.  I told Scott my plans and it was received with raised eyebrows and a couple, “Are you sure?”

Yes.  Two years ago this race kicked my ass and I let it.  It was my fault.  I wanted to change that. I now have more experience, am a much stronger runner both physically and mentally.  I’m a stronger racer and I am smart enough to know not to head into any kind of trail race with expectations.

The only thing I wanted to do for this race was not to let it beat me and to have a much better time than the first one.

That’s it!

I asked around and got some friends to run with me.

From Left to Right:

Mike, Zach, Jess, and Myself.

Races are so much more fun with friends, right?  Especially when it’s 20 some degrees and it’s a snow covered trail race!

P.S. You know you love my cone-head hat. It’s the only one I have found that keeps my head warm and covers my ears.

We had to walk to the starting point which was on the other side of the park.  Then we would do a short backtrack at the very beginning of the race.

Scott loves this race because he said it has the best visibility.  There’s only a few times when he actually can’t see me and those don’t last very long.

Check out the chick in the shorts! Hardcore! (And cold, I bet she was cold.)

The beginning of the race we cut across a field which has a slight incline on both sides.  Nothing major but just enough that you’re going to feel it as you run it.

The first loop takes us through what will be the finish area.  We run through this and then head down the field towards the woods.

I was curious about how the woods were going to be and I was also ready to tackle it! While there was snow on the ground, it was dry and hard packed down.  The woods were the same and the trail was a breeze.  It wasn’t nearly as long or as hard as the first time.

I came out of the woods and knew that it wouldn’t be long before the finish.  I also knew that I should be seeing Scott again soon.

Oh hey, there I am!

Once I reached this point, I was starting to feel really pleased with the situation.  I felt like I was doing a great job and was happy that the “Woods of Death” didn’t hold me back!

You can see here how some of the “trail” is actually pea gravel. Some sections were snow covered and other sections the snow had melted and it was pretty clear.

The obligatory, far away action shot.  It’s nice! You have to click on it to see me though. It was at this point I saw the Mile 2 marker.  I had a brief moment of, “Oh gosh that’s it!” but it quickly passed as I realized that one mile left isn’t to terrible at all.

Coming down the finish shoot happy happy!

Whoo-hooo! Done!

Done, stoked, and so freakin’ happy! My finish time was 32:something which crushes my previous time for this race by about a bazillion.

I do have to say that the previous race conditions were more challenging, it was very cold and there was a fresh 6 inches of snow on the ground.  However, if faced with those conditions again, I know I could still dominate this race. This shows how much I’ve grown and evolved as a runner. I am beyond happy about this!

A trail race with snow, you know I had to bust out the YakTrax. They were such a huge help!

Don’t run on snow without them friends!

I asked Scott to take these pictures and he only took two of them, then moved on to full body shots.  I was unaware of this and thought I would stoop down and sabotage his picture taking.

It didn’t work and all you’re left with is this ridiculous photo of me being goofy.

Why yes, I am complete a dork in real life, why do you ask?

If you know me, then you know that no race is complete until I get to drink my chocolate soymilk at the end.

Done and done!

This race taught me that all races should be fun and not something taken too seriously.  Life is too short for that.  It showed me how much I’ve improved as a runner.

It also taught me to never say never.

OEFFA Winter Warmer Fundraiser

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Last Saturday night Scott and I had the wonderful chance to attend our first OEFFA event! As you know, I’m a big supporter of the Eat Local movement.  About becoming more involved in being aware of where exactly your food comes from, who’s providing, and how they are getting it to you.  I’m still extremely new and am constantly trying to learn more about Ohio and what all we have available to us.

It turns out that we have a lot! Being a Midwest state and having a varying climate along with a decent landscape means that not only is Ohio able to support multiple kinds of livestock, it can support agriculture as well.  This means that we have access to some of the very best meat and produce in the country.

Not to mention, wine, fruits, and maple syrup.

Ohio has it all and I’m determined to learn as much as I can and pass along that information to you.  This way we can all make better informed choices about what we eat and where we get it.

Because I want to learn, I decided that attending an OEFFA event would be a great step in finding out information.

OEFFA stands for, Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association. From the website, this blurb describes them perfectly:

The Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association (OEFFA) was formed in 1979 and is a membership-based, grassroots organization, dedicated to promoting and supporting sustainable, ecological, and healthful food systems.

The best way to learn more about the local food scene is to talk to those that provide it, right?

Saturday Night’s Event, called Winter Warmer, provided the perfect opportunity to do just that.

The event was held at Wild Goose Creative, which is a lovely space that can be rented out and used for events such as this, or whatever strikes your fancy.  Their website has a list of events that you can check out!  If you have never been to an event at Wild Goose, I suggest you attend one that strikes your fancy.  I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Scott wrote out our nametags while I walked around snapping some pictures.

Along with mingling and making new contacts, this event also featured a silent auction filled with lots of fun local services and a small buffet of appetizer items.  This wasn’t just any old buffet though, all the food featured were from local resources.  Everything from the cheese to mushrooms.

Being served up was:

  • Ricotta on toast with honey.  The Ricotta was made from Snowville Creamery Milk.
  • Beef Cheeks in Ancho Chili Sauce.
  • Oxtail alla Pancetta
  • Black bean and Chipotle Hummus on Potato Foccacia Rounds
  • Lamb Meatballs

My favorite?

Goat empanadas!

That’s right, goat! What is really interesting is that just the day before I realized I had never tried goat before and was wondering what that would taste like. I thought it might be like lamb which I do not like.  Lamb is a very strong meat and it’s not something I can handle.  I tried the goat with an open mind and was very surprised by it’s taste, texture, and appearance.  It’s a darker meat and it honestly looks like roast beef.  It tastes like beef as well.  It’s a very mild flavor with a soft texture.  Had I not known this was goat, I would have sworn it was some sort of beef or possibly bison.

We sipped on wine samples and also mead samples from a local producer, Brothers Drake Mead.

We chatted with Pete from Flying J Farms and also with some lovely ladies who I now realize I did not get their names.  Please say hello ladies!

Scott and I had a great time learning more about OEFFA, speaking with local farmers, and trying some new to us dishes all made with Ohio grown ingredients.

Please check out OEFFA’s website to learn more about the association along with how to become a member.  Be sure to check out their upcoming events as well and maybe we’ll see you at the next one!

Dealing with the worst running injury, a dog bite

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Friday, December 31st, New Year’s Eve Day 2010, started like any other typical vacation day.  I slept in a bit and then got up to get my day started.  The weather was warm but really breezy and I debated with myself for a while whether I was going to go for a run or not.  I finally decided that I didn’t want to let this slide, I wanted a final run for 2010.

I headed out with the notion that I would play things by ear and see how I felt and let that determine how much mileage I would put in.  I originally thought it would be a short run, 3.5-4miles but then I realized I wanted to finish the year strong and pushed on through to get in 6 miles.

As I was on the last section of my run, in a neighborhood across the street from mine, I heard shouting.  Like serious shouting.  To be honest I didn’t pay much attention to it because I couldn’t understand what the person was shouting.  I could only make out sounds and not actual words.

Then it got a little more intense and I thought, “Holy crap it’s like 9:30 in the morning when most people are on vacation and still asleep.  Cut it out!”

It was at this point I heard a different sound.  It wasn’t shouting but jingling.  I looked over my shoulder and quickly realized that I was not in a very good situation at all.

Out of nowhere, two dogs had me in their sights and were barreling down on me quickly.  I could tell by their body language that this was not going to be a good encounter and that I was not viewed as a friend but as an intruder.

I stopped running, put my hands up in the air surrender style, and started walking as slowly as I possibly could.  I was on the street and had a car to my left.  The dogs sort of had me cornered.  One on my right back and the other one on the left in the back.

Being next to the car kept that side safe and kept the dogs from being able to completely surround me.

I kept my arms up, my head down, and just tried to walk slowly out of the situation.  It occurred to me that whoever I heard yelling earlier was probably yelling for the dogs and I was hoping they would come up on the scene quickly.

They did not.

One of the dogs jumped up and bit me on the back of my right thigh and then the dogs ran away back from where they came.  I took this as my chance to escape and get out of there right quick.  I ran home.

Aside from, “This is your chance, get out of here!”  My first reaction was, “Seriously? Did this dog just bite me? I can’t flipping believe I just got bit by a dog!”

Oh the things we say to ourselves in times of stress.

As soon as I got home I checked the bite.  It was mostly swollen and bruised with a very slight puncture mark.  I’m grateful that it wasn’t anything more serious.  The fact that someone was yelling for the dogs kept them from being entirely focused on me.  With two out of control aggressive dogs, things could have turned extremely ugly very quickly.

I looked up information about dog bites online and then I called a friend who works in the medical field, (Thanks Dan!) to ask what is probably a really dumb question but one that I could not find the answer to.

Could I shower first before going to Urgent Care?

The answer was yes! And that it was best to clean the wound first.

I showered and got dressed to head to Urgent Care since my doctor’s office was closed.  I didn’t have an open gaping or bleeding wound so I didn’t think a trip to the ER was necessary.

I waited to be seen by a doctor who barely even looked at my wound.  She didn’t bother to clean it or bandage it for me either, instead informing me to do that once I got home.  I was given a tetanus shot and two prescriptions, one for antibiotics and one for a topical ointment.

I had to fill out an animal bite report and the doctor basically told me that unless I find out who the owners were, then I most likely will get sick and die.

Not that bluntly, mind you, but that’s basically what she was getting at.  As if I didn’t feel bad enough.

As I was leaving Urgent Care she said, “I hope you feel better!” Um, me too?  Doctors really should take a course in bedside manner.

We left and got my prescriptions filled and headed back towards home.  Scott said we were going to drive around where the incident happened to see if we could find the owners.  I was doubtful this was going to work but agreed it needed to be done.

We drove up and down the street and I got out to chat with a neighbor who lived on that street.  She had no information but was very nice.  Then farther down the street I chatted with a couple and the wife told me that she’s seen the dogs before and showed me about where they were located.  She didn’t know exactly which house but knew the area of where they lived.  We headed down there and I talked with another neighbor who told me who the owners were and also said that she has had some run-ins with the dogs before as well.  She confirmed that they were mean and have actually come after her and her son before.  As I was talking with her one of the owners pulled up in his truck.  She pointed him out and down the street I went to get his information.

He told me the dogs belonged to the woman he lived with and went inside to get her.  She came out and I told her what happened.  She confirmed that the dogs got out that morning and was very apologetic.  She gave me her name and their vet information willingly.

I called my friend back after that to give him an update of the situation and then Scott said he was taking me out to breakfast.  Keep in mind that this happened at 9:30ish am and I was just now eating something at 1:30pm.

Yeah.

After we ate, we ran to the vet’s to double check that I was given the right information and that the animals were up to date on their rabies.  They were.  Then it was off to the police department to make an official report.

By the time I got home, I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than my couch.  This wasn’t how I planned on spending the last day of 2010.

That night I went to bed and proceeded to sleep for about 12 hours.  Adrenaline, fear, and stress, the trifecta of energy zappers.

The bite is located on the upper portion of the back of my right thigh.  More of a pulling of the skin and bruising.  I’m thankful there is no open wound and stitches were not necessary.

2010 was a really great year and I have a lot to be thankful for.  However, I’m the most thankful for the fact that I:

1. Escaped this encounter.

2. Did so with minimal damage.

Given the situation that there were two dogs, both highly agitated and aggressive, I could be telling a different story right now.

A dog bite is one running injury that I never thought I would have to deal with.

More to come on how to recognize when a dog isn’t friendly and how to handle that situation.