I was out walking today at a beautiful little park not far from my part-time job. I do stay focused while I'm walking, listening to my music. Usually I stop and pet a dog here or there; so far I'd seen a lot of dogs but I had not been tempted. It's a beautiful day - truly, about 65 degrees and sunny, so the grounds crew at this park is mowing. As I'm walking along, I smell the fresh cut grass and think (and I WISH I was kidding) "Wow, that sure smells like a Yankee candle!" What the hell? It's like I totally forgot that Yankee candle came along after the whole smell of fresh-cut grass. I embarrassed myself a little. Then I saw a couple sitting on a bench, she with her head on his shoulder and looking all in love. I wondered if they were married...to each other. I'd seen them there before. On my third time around, somewhere just over a mile I think, I finally saw a dog that I had to stop and pet. She was a little buff-colored Cocker Spaniel and looked just like our Maggie, who had died years ago. I let her sniff my fingers, because Cockers can be nasty if they don't like you, and she let me pet her head while she did a little crying sound. So sweet! And her man-walker said that I had made a friend for life. I love stuff like that.
However, last week I was walking near my apartment and stopped to pet what I think was a dog. It was tiny - maybe a miniature Chihuahua? It was my own fault - I put my hand out to pet it and next thing I know it's "biting" my pinky finger! I'm not usually a rookie when it comes to petting dogs, as with the dog at the park, but this one threw me off. Luckily I don't think it had teeth. I mean, it was gnawing on my finger and the woman holding the leash, who seemed nice but did not speak a lick of English from what I could tell, just sort of giggled and said, "Ohhh, nooo!" real softly. I said, "Oh it's okay" but mostly because I was embarrassed. As I walked away I waited until I was out of eyesight of the timid owner of the weird little creature, and then looked at my finger. Why, the little rodent dog hadn't even broken the skin! It was weird, but I admit I was relieved. I didn't really want a case of rabies right then. Luckily what saved my walk was my later encounter with an awesome greyhound. Those dogs are awesome, and the woman walking it was very cool. It did not bite me and I ended my walk on a high note when I met up with my mailman for a friendly chat as I reached my apartment.
When I got back and let my coworker know I had returned (I go on my dinner break from work), I didn't think she'd believe all the stuff that had happened to me on my trip! I told her it reminded me of the cartoon 'Family Circus' when the little guy on there would tell his mom, "Yes I went straight to school" or whatever, but it showed his path going through yards, up and down trees, under bridges and through mud puddles, but in his mind, he did go straight to school!
The main difference between us that day was that I pretty much stayed on a straight path, but he didn't have the weird experience of getting bit by a rodent dog with no teeth.
