Ten-Finger Exercises

a nice day

Lola was testing me from the minute I woke up. I thought she would be thoroughly worn out Wednesday from her hour of cavorting at the city's new dog park. She ran with a boxer for all she was worth, racing right past him and letting him retrieve his own frisbees, then sometimes grabbing hold on the return trip to give him a tug or two. She usually picked the biggest dogs, the labs and retrievers and the boxer, to run with. Only once did she evidently feel ganged up on when one kept humping her and several kept up with her too closely. She stopped and turned on them, charging one and then another, and they all mellowed out. For the most part, she looked like the rabbit being chased by greyhounds, craftily evading the pack.

She was not completely tired out. She has been at me ever since to go back, like a child nagging at me to go to the park. When I got her in the car, she was instantly on the alert, and could barely contain herself by the time we reached our destination.

This time I took a container of water and a pocket full of dog treats, forgot the frisbee, but it probably didn't matter. It was the company she wanted anyway. Two big dogs immediately finished off what water I had with me. Someone else had left a gallon of water, which I refilled my container from, but Lola got very little of it, if any. Another owner brought a large container, the size of a dishpan, and Lola helped herself. She soon had all four feet in it and was paddling! Everyone was laughing, but from then on we kept her feet out of the container. She got very muddy though and went straight to the tub, involuntarily, when we got home. She didn't want to paddle there, just wanted to get out. I wonder why?

I went to a new, cheaper place for a haircut today, and I don't think Bill likes it much. It's pretty short for me, but I hated the last cut I got a couple of weeks ago and had hacked at the sides, to its detriment. I haven't looked at it much yet, figuring I'm stuck with it for awhile regardless.

Bill made a nice fire tonight. We only had a few batches of trick or treaters, and now we're enjoying it and watching an old movie while throwing Lola's squeaky toy from time to time.

She didn't get worn out today either. Hmm. She sure had fun though, and so did I. There were four or five of the same people there that I met Wednesday, and a couple of others I know from the hospital. Old and young people, fit and fat dogs, some social, some who stayed by themselves. If there's a dog park in your area, I recommend it to everyone.