Tag: reflecting
When I sat down at breakfast, I told Amy that the title of today’s blog post would be “A Steaming Pile of Dog Poop.” She suggested I come up with a different title.
That’s Brooks the Wonder Dog. For the past six weeks, I’ve been walking him at least once a day. Typically I take him for an afternoon walk and an evening walk and Amy usually takes him for a morning walk. Today I did the morning walk also.
Our 1,500 step walk (about 0.75 miles) is a big loop around the place we have been staying. After about 500 steps, we get to his poop field and we do a mini-loop around the field. He’s got a rhythm – if he’s got to go, he sniffs around the edges for about 270 degrees of the mini-loop, scrunches his back legs up to his front, squats, and generates a steaming poop that reflects the digestive system of a healthy 80 pound eight year old golden retriever.
I used to hate picking up his shit. But now it’s a special moment on our walks together, for which I developed expertise walking him around in Boulder’s Central Park a few summers ago. I’ve got a one handed bag technique that’s quick and efficient. The bags are eco-friendly and lavender scented, so it’s gross for only one second. We then loop to the poop trash and continue on our way.
For the rest of our journey, Brooks grabs his leash and walks himself. He loves every human on the planet so there is much tail wagging and happy human voices. We have a fun game at the end, as he knows exactly where our condo is and which stairs are ours. He runs to the edge of where I can see him, turns a corner, stops, and then waits for me. It’s delightful.
For the last six weeks, I’ve had at least 30 minutes a day to do nothing other than walk, talk to my dog, reflect, and pick up a dog deposit. This morning, as the rising sun was shining was shining in my face and Brooks was prancing alongside me, I took a deep breath and smiled.
I like this planet.