Rhino Ramblings

Rhino Yo-yo – Ready to Walk the Dog

Walking the Dog – a yo-yo trick; one of all of them that I never mastered or even came close to getting right once  (this was one of the easiest of my Rhino knick-knack pictures to use for a blog).  Also a chore I associated with owning a dog long before my first dog, Midas, entered my life.  Then over the 9.5 years of that companionship, I found walking the dog to be one of the great joys of my day.  Every day we would walk 9000 steps at the outset (with another 4-5,000 tacked on later).  It was an hour and a half journey through the neighborhood.  Mainly in my won world along with his as that morning walk was a great time to listen to podcasts and settle into a mindset for the rest of the day.  My staff learned to fear my arrival at the office with “I had an idea while walking the dog” as, while they were always brilliant, they were never well thought out.  There were occasional interactions with people – though few and far between were direct ones.  There was the school guard crosser who cheerfully helped us across the too busy and too fast roadway.  There was the one lady who did not want to pet Midas, but was excited to chat about him.  Mostly there were waves across the street as I avoided both peoples and dogs – some from my personal preference to be left alone and some from the uncertainty that always accompanies two dogs meeting up for the first time).  I learned of a broader notoriety when an Uber driver, who turned out to be local, told me he recognized me and asked about Midas. 

And then January happened and in a flash, Midas was gone.  I am not going to re-hash the blogs from earlier this year – if new to my blogs, you may want to go back as far as you are able and read to fully understand my journeys.  For many months I did not walk at all.  When I did start venturing out on my own, I avoided the normal routes at the normal times.  I specifically skipped the guard crossing. My grief was still too fresh and I needed to avoid the “where’s your dog” questioners.

And then along came Argo (4 months old and with me for the past 2).  Based on google references, at most I should be walking her for 15 minutes a day.  For the first four weeks, I was not to walk her at all.  Once we did start walking, I threw away the 15 minute concept as she has far too much energy so any activity I can extend with her, the better.  We are now at 6000 steps in the morning with one or two shorter ones in the day, including a local neighborhood jaunt.  While I still wear my headphones and do not go out of my way to interact with people, I have found such interactions to be more uplifting than I could have imagined.  Yes, the question of Midas must be dealt with.  I have found that, while the grief is still around and tears are never totally out of the picture, I can now process and reply to the inquiries and move on to the new puppy.  My willingness to engage with others has increased and chats have been longer and even a wave and smile across the street is a step brighter  (none of this is to say that I am exchanging human names – it is still the dog names that matter).  Last week, as I walked up one short street I was flagged down by a lady who I had never noticed before.  She asked the pre-requisite about the big dog I used to walk with. And then told me about her son who missed seeing Midas in the morning as he used her as a time barometer for getting ready for school.  Speaking of school, I returned to the school crossing route and while the crossing guard was new, she was happy to see us and help us cross every morning.  (Another crossing guard I had barely interacted with did let me know she missed seeing Midas also).  The timing of our walks have place d us in a school parking lot just as teachers head into the school.  (Midas’ walks, being longer, put us there after the teachers arrived). I feel I am performing my civic duty to support teachers as a couple have become so excited to see and pet Argo and expressed how doing so brightened their mornings.   I will have to take that into consideration as I plan to increase the amount of walking but do not want to take away from those who in just a few weeks have grown accustomed to Argo’s exuberant presence.

So, walking the dog – a childhood yo-yo trick; for some a chore; for me a mental, physical and spiritual enjoyable escapade; for those I and first Midas and now Argo have met along the way – unexpected encounters of the best kind.

A side note.  I mentioned grief and the process I am still undergoing.  I took a big step in that process.  Argo started puppy training last week and I elected to do so at the PetSmart where Midas spent so many days and, when I was on travel, nights and ultimately spent his last moments.  First time back since that fateful day.  I was teary eyed but not teary cheeked a the timing turned out to be right and of course having the handful that is Argo with me was a positive distraction (and also thanks to my friend and Argo’s “Aunt” Melissa who came along).  So I sit here finishing this blog with more than a little sorrow and loss (and maybe now with some wet cheeks).  But as I walk along life in each of the various journeys we all find ourselves taking, I am grateful for walking the dog in the past, present and future.

Another side note and a behind the curtain look at my blog process.  As I have noted before I at most will re-read and edit my blog once after it is first written because I am so critical of my own writing.  This one is a full exception.  For the first time, I wrote a first draft and then threw it in the rubbish heap of the computer trash can.  It may not have been so bad – who knows, it might have been a vast improvement. But the tone was just off for me and fortunately I wrote it early in the day (perhaps I should always wait till it is late and I am too tired to care) so I could restart from scratch.  This does mean I am publishing this without an edit – this is the second draft in the raw.  Hope I did not make too many grammatical or logical errors.  MS Word seems to think I spelled everything correctly.  In any case, I hope it was an enjoyable read.  Woof Woof.