I am the proud owner of an 18 month old puppy.
Part black Lab and part hound of some type she has all the energy and affection I could want.
On most days she comes with me to work spending her time looking out the windows of my office or sleeping under my desk. She also provides me a good excuse to go for a walk several times each day. Our walks not only get me away from my desk and walking rather than sitting, but on most days I end up seeing and talking with someone on the Village sidewalk who I would never see and talk with if I had just stayed in my office.
Did I also say that I am a list maker and that crossing off most, if not everything, on my list each day is important? I share this because my dog walks and my list keeping sometimes conflict with each other as it did this morning. Here is what I mean.
More often than not I approach our dog walks as exercise for the dog.
My dog approaches our walks as a chance to explore.
To wag her tail at every person she sees.
To smell every smell there is to smell.
To stop and notice every new sound.
As a result our walks often take twice as long as they would if I just walked myself.
All of which leads to this.
This morning on our walk I was distracted thinking of all the things on my To Do list.
Suddenly the leash jerked in my hand pulling me up short.
(Did I mention Taina is strong?)
She had stopped.
Nose to the ground.
Pushed into the grass.
Smelling something important to smell.
Impatiently, I tugged on the leash, but she didn’t move.
She didn’t even lift her head.
It was then I realized.
Sometimes the important thing about our walks is not the exercise, but the smell of the grass after a rain or the way the clouds dance across the sky or the touch of breeze on my cheek.
All of which I too often miss in my thinking about something else.
My dog lesson for today.
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