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Letter: When the stars lined up

When the stars lined up

I am writing to express my sincerest thanks and gratitude for the heroic efforts of Jim Hearn and the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office for finding my daughter’s dog on New Year’s Eve.

My daughter is in Thailand, and our family and a friend have been taking care of Maslow, her little healer/terrier mix. Maslow accidently got out just about the time that the fireworks were going off at the Roaring Fork Club near where I live. I was at a party and came home early to find out Maslow had gone missing at around 10 p.m. We were all out searching frantically, in the cold, walking, calling, driving everywhere around the Basalt area, trying to keep visions of coyotes, traffic, frozen dog — and broken hearts — at bay.



We searched for two hours. Having recently been in Thailand myself, the thought came upon me to get down on my knees and pray. And pray I did, for a miracle and for someone to find that little dog. A little while later as I was turning to home to warm up, a sheriff’s car pulled up next to me and stopped, and there next to Jim Hearn, on the passenger seat, was Maslow with his ears at full altitude and eyes wild with recognition and relief. Found!

It wasn’t until the next day, after all had calmed down, that I called Jim to find out the details of the rescue because I couldn’t believe where he had found Maslow. He was at the Snowmass Conoco, three miles away from my house, across the highway, tucked up in a little shivering ball by the gas station. Apparently he had freaked out from the fireworks, and as Jim figured, run east, as far away from the sounds as he could, probably on the cross-country trail, crossed the highway somewhere around the intersection at Old Snowmass, and was wandering around the intercept lot.




Some good soul called the Sheriff’s Office and reported the dog, and Jim and some other deputies started searching around that area for a while with no success. Maybe about the time I got down on my knees in one last effort to pray, Jim had decided to take one last look and went back to the Conoco area, and spotted Maslow, shivering and huddled against the building.

Who knows how these things work — determination, intention, hope, prayer, group effort, the kindness of the human heart and that invisible source that binds us all together and takes care of creatures great and small. I truly have a lot to be grateful for to start the new year. Happy new year, everyone!

Elaine Finesilver

Basalt