Unexpected Gifts

I thought it would be cold when I took Spike out this morning. It was only about 30 degrees when I first got up.

We walked out into warm bright sunshine. I stuffed my gloves into my pockets and unbuttoned my coat. Spike and I headed down Maple; the sky was a cloudless blue.

Our morning walk morphed from a procrastinated chore in the cold to a pleasure--a bonus--to get the morning off on the right foot.

Later on our midday walk we passed a neighbor from Highview Condominiums whom we hadn't seen him in months. "Is that Spike? It's good to see he's still around." I told him Spike had just celebrated his tenth birthday.

I realized that Spike's been a fixture of this neighborhood for nine years. He's touched many lives.

I thought about the dogs that I have met and now miss. Paul, Booker, April, Bonnie, Lucky, Fly, oh I forget some names. I even miss Pumpkin the cat. I assume he/she died because it's been so long since we've seen him/her. That was a cool cat; Spike could aroo all he wanted--Pumpkin wouldn't even react.

Walking with Spike has connected Jeff and me to our neighborhood as nothing else could. Our neighborhood is a mixed bag--and evolving. But it is our neighborhood.