The Bane of my last two days

As many of you know, Joe and I, during this past week have been at Joe's parents house. Many know it as "the Farm" or by some of its qualities like the tack house, or the goats, or Emma. Joe's parents went out of town on Saturday and on Monday I was going to plant some tomato plants for Jan(Joe's mom). As I am preparing the area to plant I notice Emma, the Mott's 12 year old Great Pyrenees. She looks like a giant polar bear. I get the brilliant idea that I am going to let Emma out of the 3 acre goat pasture since I was outside and that way I could love on her when I was done planting. So all is good for about 2 minutes.... I turn to turn off the hose and head to where Emma is standing to commence "love on her time" and she isn't there. Joe and I had been warned, over a period of a few weeks, that Emma had a streak of wandering and so she was placed in the goat pasture to keep her fenced in and it allows her a the fun of chasing the goats too. So I ran to the bottom of the hill, shouted for her...nothing. I go to the end of the driveway...nothing. For a dog that acts so old and feeble and arthritic and senile, she sure did move fast. I hopped in the car and headed for the neighboring community and drove around calling for her, drove home, checked for messages from maybe a neighbor, then called Davidson PD, Charlotte PD, Cornelius PD and Huntersville PD. I reported her lost, gave all my information and then headed back to the car to start looking again.(The reason I called all is b/c all of those city lines cross within a few blocks of "the Farm" ) After several hours I received a phone call from Cornelius PD saying Emma has been seen at a Baptist church down the road. Short of hanging up on the officer, I ran to the car, drove to the church...but no Emma. A maintenance man said she was there a few hours before but had moved on in the direction of the woods at the back of the church. So my search continued, and continued with Joe once he got home. I had been in every neighborhood, down every private driveway and in many neighboring pastures. Around 7pm Monday night Joe and I called it quits as the sun went down and the rain moved in. The next morning, Joe had to head to the airport, but my searching began early. With Joe out of town I had planned on heading to my parent's house and had the pet sitter already lined up. I decided I would make a loop around the suspected area where I thought Emma was (though she was probably in the woods and probably ignoring me) but it had rained all night and was still raining. Some time around noon I got a phone call. A woman down the road was able to lure Emma onto her front porch. I rush over to find not the elegant white dog that ran off the day before, but Emma who had been painted by North Carolina mud. She was caked in it, with thorns and burrs stuck in her fur and something matted on her that smelled like manure. Luckily I didn't have far to go. I suited up in a rain jacket and rubber gloves and bathed Emma, having to soap her up several times. But she was clean, fed and safe back in her goat pasture for the pet sitter to never know the difference.