Defining Gross

I Can Define the Word Gross
Living in the dark can be hazardous like walking into a hole. It can be pleasant when you reach out for the door knob and find a breast instead. It can also be gross.
Remember when it was Mom who took care of all of us sick kids, and that included Dad, but who would take care of Mom when she was sick? The same can be said about a service dog and his blind person.
The animal is trained to guide and protect his user around obstacles. However, what happens to the dog when he gets sick or injured?
Fremont and I just moved into downtown Decatur and did not know a single soul, did not have a clue where anything was, but best of all, we had a full bag of tainted dog food. The food made Fremont sick as a dog could be. When he was not hurling the chewed food mixed with blood: the bloody soup was coming out the other end. .
The problem became apparent when I snifffed and learned we had an accident, just as I set my foot down in the pile, and of course, I was barefooted.
“Gross!” It was warm, mushy, and I wanted to throw-up.
The accident started in the bedroom and the paper towels were in the kitchen, of course. So, I did my best impression of Festus, Marshall Dillon’s old deputy and hobbled towards the kitchen. I made it to the kitchen and wiped my foot clean.
All the while, telling Fremont that everything was okay, despite my gagging noises of nausea. I froze with a start. Where was the pile? I had not counted the steps. I could get down on my hands and knees and probe. I took another step and found what I though was THE pile I was sorely mistaken.
Relief washed over me like a breath of fresh air until I went to throw the used towels away when the next two steps were the other piles.
I wanted to cry out loud, but instead, I called out for my Momma. No help there.
Needless to say, another trek to the kitchen and this time, the entire roll of paper towels.
When I covered all the accidents, I phoned downstairs to housekeeping to get the carpets cleaned.
The housekeeping guy was sympathetic and only charged me a dollar per pile. There was ten piles and I still had a sick puppy.
Now, it was time to panic. New kid in town, had no mobility training for the immediate area, and I was flat broke. So, I asked around and found out that there was a vet close by. Six blocks away, they said. Technically, it was seven blocks to the vet. The sighted don’t count the medium of the second to Last street. I was lost when we turned down the wrong street. Nothing the secretary said was around us as she described. Up and down the block and I could not find the vet’s office. I called them and asked if they would come out and see if they can see me. Two hours later, while Fremont is about to have a stroke in the heat, we found the parking lot. Believe it or not, the front door was behind a brick wall.
After all that, the doctor gave Fremont chewable pink tablets and a bowl of water.
“And that will be fifty dollars, please.”
Since we would need a vet, I worked out the details for setting up an account with the vet and the guide dog school.
It took us only half an hour to get back home. Fremont ate rice until I was sick of cooking it and he was tired of eating it. At least, I was sick and tired of him eating it, but he always ate like it was his last meal on earth and if he did not eat it in less than a heartbeat; it would disappear.