Sydney, Australia (Day 20) - 20 Days of Chill

"Go to the Uetibergbahn and get a ticket at Seinau station for the upper station.  From there, walk to the summit of Uetilberg.  You will know what to do once you get there."  That had been the last text message I received while on the plane after it had landed in Zurich.  I still had to find Herman, so I made my way to the Uetibergbahn and bought my ticket.

All the while, I kept thinking, why had Herman gotten me into this?  How had someone gotten into my house?  How had someone dognapped Herman from my back yard.  We had gotten Herman while we were on holiday in Sydney, Australia.  He was just a puppy, but we found him on a street corner along with several of his littermate as we had been walking around on the waterfront at Sydney Harbor.  The boy was trying to get rid of the dogs before he had to take them to a shelter.  My wife fell in love with Herman almost immediately, but then again, she fell in love with Jack the same way.  She saw Herman, he bounded over and put his paws on her pant legs and it was all over.  We had to have Herman.  And man, was that an adventure getting him home.  All the paperwork, just to bring a dog stateside.  

Now, however, Herman was a 130 pound German Shepherd that no one wanted to mess with if he was in his own territory.  On a walk, Herman was another story, the friendliest dog known to mankind.  But in the back yard, he'd rip an arm right off of someone who tried to come into the back yard without me giving an approving command to him.

I was startled out of my thoughts by the station conductor announcing the upper station.  I got off at the end of the line and started to make the walk to the summit.  You know, Herman would really like it here, I thought.  And that's when I saw him.  Herman was heading to me like a friend train.  BAM.  He hit me and knocked me over.  Now I was on the ground with him licking my face.  What the heck is going on here?  "Herman!  Good boy.  How did you get here?"

"Those questions will be answered in short order."

I looked over to my right and saw where the voice had come from.  Quickly, I was on my feet and running, with Herman beside me.  Then, Herman turned around, growled and charged the man, who had pulled a gun out of his pocket.

"Herman!  No!"

It was too late, the man shot and I saw Herman fall on his side.  Then the man looked at me, aimed and fired.

The next thing I heard was, "Did you hear what I said?  That's a really big tree."

Yep, is sure is," I said.  I didn't have the heart to tell him that there is a tree in California that had a branch that was larger than this entire tree.  It was at that point in time, that I realized that I needed to stop daydreaming so much and actually enjoy some of the adventures I'd been thinking about while standing on that rooftop in Philadelphia.

For the completion to others who took part in the 20 Days of Chill, please click here.