Fire In The Hole

"A dogwalker found ..." Did you ever notice how many local news stories contain this sentence? We do come out and about, us dog people, and somewhere down the line we tend to bump into something out of the ordinary. Yesterday, on our after-diner-walk, it was our turn to make such a discovery.

Kenzo followed his nose and moved off the trail. I followed him, curious what had aroused his interest. He was sniffing at something odd, and I bended over to see what it was. To my horror, it appeared to be some kind of grenade. Three of them. The tallest was about one feet long, and the tip with the detonator was still in place.

After thanking god on my knees I had Kenzo and Tilde on the leash, I called the police and took some photos. It was an odd sight. It looked like someone deliberately had positioned the grenades under a sign, which appropriately was a warning sign that the area was a former old post-WWII ammunition demolition area. Considering the amount of joggers, bikers, hikers and people walking their dogs in the area, it seemed unreal.

After the police had a look at the photos, they called me back. They were sending a patrol unit and asked me to keep an eye out, and warn other people that might walk in the area. The patrol took a while to arrive to assess the situation, but they agreed it could turn into a nasty situation, and they fenced off the area and placed it under guard. It was already after midnight before the first military arrived to relieve the patrol unit. At first light early in the morning, the EOD, the bomb squad, arrived and detonated the ordinance.

Boom.

With Kenzo being a true hero now, I expected the mayor to arrive at any time with his well-deserved medal. I asked the trooper standing beside me, what took him so long. He said apologizing, "We find these things all over the West-coast. For us it is not uncommon".

Kenzo looked hopefully at me, he had a taste for it now. But I was firm on my decision. "No more bomb sniffing for you young man. Once is enough".