(no subject)

I have not been walking after lunch regularly since my walking buddy VT went out on maternity leave around Thanksgiving, but I just looked out the window and noticed one of the neighborhood dog walkers we would see often when we did. An older man with an Australian shepherd, we come across them as we circle back around the building - the lawn surrounding it adjoins a dog park behind the building, and lots of people and canines from the neighborhood from across the street use the grass as a good place for playing fetch. No exception, the man has one of those diamond-shaped fabric with weighted corners, meant for dogs to chase. This dog apparently takes that literally - he runs in a crouch typical of shepherds, may stretch out in a jump to catch it but just as often lets it fall to the ground. Then he collapses to his belly next to it, staring at his human intensely as if to say, "Ok, I stopped it, it's not going anywhere else; my job's done and it's YOUR TURN." And waits all SRS BSNS, panting tensely, until the man approaches to pick it up and throw it again. And the cycle repeats, until they work their way across the grass and go back home across the street.

I chuckled at him once, observing the dog makes him get a workout, too. It's only fair. He laughed back, "Yeah, he keeps me busy!" Serious business, indeed.