Two Terriers, Two Henrys, and Two Heathers - The Amazing Utility of Misunderstandings

What an incredibly serendipitous synchroncity of experience I had yesterday - I’m still processing it. Within the span of a few minutes I experienced a set of three misunderstandings, which turned out to provide exactly what I needed to solve a puzzle that led to the rescue of my neighbor’s two dogs, all within an remarkably short period of time - about 35 minutes.

Here’s what happened: I was out walking my dogs when a neighbor pulled up in his car [btw, names have been changed to protect the guilty ]. Ronnie told me he was looking for two terriers. “Hmm. Two terriers”, I said, “Jack Russell Terriers?” “Yes, I think so”, he replied, “Henry was sitting for them and they got out.” Here, in the very first moments of this episode, I’d made my first two misunderstandings. I thought Ronnie was talking about his two-doors-down neighbor, who I’ll call Dr. Henry. I knew that two sets of Jack Russell terriers lived near Dr. Henry, and recalled that two weeks earlier another neighbor, Cathy, had found them wandering near her house. “Look around Five Oaks Drive,” I told Ronnie.

After walking my own dogs, I got in the car and started looking for the terriers. I went to Five Oaks Drive and the first person I saw was Tony, putting up his holiday lights. “Hey Tony, have you seen some loose terriers running around?” ”Yeah, a he said. “A tan one.” This had me confused. The JRTs (Jack Russell terriers) are all white with black and brown markings. “Heather got it and took it to the community center.” Okay, I thought, well, it’s a lead.

A few doors down I saw Laurel walking her two dogs - the very next person I came across. “Hi Laurel. Have you seen any loose terriers?” “Yes, there were two, actually, Bonita and Chloe, but Chloe got away. I have Bonita in my house and was going to bring her to the community center. Do you want to pick her up?” Chloe? Bonita? I thought both sets of JRTs were male. Off I went to Laurel’s house anyway.

Meanwhile, I called Ronnie’s wife, Kay, who was out in another car looking for the dogs, to tell her I’d potentially found one of them. She arrived at Laurel’s just as I did, with Andy - another neighbor, one who lives near me (not Kay). I wondered why he was with her, but Laurel came up with her dogs and in I went. Kay and Andy had left to meet me at the community center, as we thought the other dog might have been brought there. Bonita looked like a sort of poodle - not a JRT in any way! Now I was more confused than ever.

As I pulled up to the center, Andy got out of the car. That’s when it dawned on me that I’d gotten it wrong. It wasn’t Dr. Henry who was sitting these dogs, it was Henry, Andy’s father-in-law. Bonita, the dog sitting in my passenger seat was the Francis’s dog, Andy and Henry’s next door neighbor; Henry had been sitting for the dogs while the family was away. These were two Wheaten Terriers. If I’d made that connection right away I NEVER would have looked for them on Five Oaks Drive. I’d have looked a mile away, and would never have found them.

Kay said that Chloe was supposed to be brought home, so off I drove with Bonita to Henry and Andy’s house. When I got there, there was no Chloe. It took some digging and some more driving around before I realized that Kay had her own misunderstanding: the community center told her than Heather was taking the dog home, which she thought meant back to the Francis’s house. I realized “home” might have meant back to Heather’s home. I called Heather and she was in church - she hadn’t found any dog.

Uh oh. Down a wrong track. Back to Tony’s. It turns out he has another neighbor named Heather - who house I went to and knocked. Sure enough, she had brought Chloe home - her home. Chloe was nervous on the drive home but was soon reunited with Bonita, back at the Francis’s. Turns out Henry hadn’t closed the front door properly and the dogs had gotten out.

What I’ve been pondering is how my misunderstandings led so quickly and directly to finding the right dogs, and that the very first people I met up with, based on my misunderstandings, happened to know where the dogs were located. I’ve found myself not only in wonder at it, but also attempting to apply meaning to this experience. Is it just coincidence? Or did I have intuitive hits that led me to the right place at the right time, even though with mistaken ideas?

Connecting with and utilizing my inner guidance system has been a goal of sorts for me. Could this be evidence that I’m making headway with it? Might it just be an interesting set of circumstances, a confluence of fortuitous moments leading to a happy ending?

What are your thoughts?