I love my daily walks. They’re filled with scents of who’s been there before. It’s like reading the social page of the newspaper. Maggie, the big spotted girl that somewhat resembles an Irish Setter with a Dalmatian for a mother, leaves her mark in the same place every day. I seldom see her, but I always know she’s been just minutes ahead of me. We’ve met, up close and personal, and I can walk right under her belly without even touching her. She smells like expensive shampoo. She never rolls in goose poop…she’s a high class aged lady. She has eyebrows that are impeccably groomed…very much like her mom’s.
There’s my steady, Eddie, the 10 year old Scottish Terrier. He’s a handsome devil, with a debonair strut and excellent manners. He always pauses to give me a gentle kiss, and sits by his owner while my mom and his mom chat. His breath always smells of biscuits and jam. I suspect he’s spoiled rotten, and hand fed his breakfast from the human’s table. He’s often accompanied by the wiener dog, Rooster. Rooster, has no manners at all. He makes a nose dive for my private parts, and I have to let him know that’s unacceptable with a growl and a snap at his whiskers. I’ve shortened those whiskers on one side of his face. He has to hold his head cocked to one side in order to look “balanced”. He always smells like he’s been up everyone’s hiney. Typical of a wiener dog…Harrumph!!!
Further down the street is Bailey. He’s owned by Kay, a lady who’s recently lost her husband. Kay and mom always have a lot to talk about. Bailey is very sweet. He doesn’t have much of a scent at all, but he’s very particular about his walks and how long they will be. When he’s done, he’s done, and no amount of coaxing is going to change his mind. I can always tell when he’s finished his walk. He parks his hiney on the sidewalk, and leaves his mark for all to sniff. Kay frequently has to carry him home. Bless her heart. I’ve noticed that Kay always had three full “doggie bags” after every walk. Bailey certainly has a lot of “business” to take care of!
Moxie is a real scatter brain, that smells like orange scented hairspray. Her mom carries this “bomb” that she squirts at her every time she tries to jump on mom, which is about 20 times every time she meets us, and she always tries to sit on my head, which I absolutely hate. Her mom says she’s in “training”, but I haven’t figured out for what. I can smell that spray a half a block away now, and hope we can cross the street before Moxie gets close enough to claim squatters rights on my noggin. UGH!
My favorite days to walk are the first and third Wednesday of the month…recycle days. There are some VERY interesting containers in the bins that line the sidewalks. My favorites are Stouffer’s, and Marie Callender’s. There are quite a few folks that neglect to rinse them really well, and, being a street runner in my former days, I’m drawn to the not so clean plastic trays that attract flies and other such bugs. A lot of the bins have no lid, so it’s all mom can do to keep me from taking a nose dive to the bottom of the barrels on our way. One day I managed to grab a Captain Crunch cereal box, a mac and cheese tray, a chicken pot pie container and a Hostess Twinkie wrapper before mom could get a handle on me. I was right proud of myself, to say the least.
All in all, life is good. I sometimes miss the days of Iowa goose poop and duck doo doo, but there’s lots of pigeon droppings and morning dove spatterings to make up for it. I’m usually exhausted by the time we return to the house, and I’m in need of a well earned nap. Call me when my dinner is served!
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