seasons

[thoreau]

This morning Miss Kate and I were up at sunrise (a springtimey 645am) and took a long hour and half stroll through the neighborhood. Springtime is the best time for Miss Kate and her patented SniffPatrol^tm. The smells are so intense, and fresh. She'll sometimes spend 10 minutes on a single square of sidewalk, scanning it with her sniffer - slowly and loudly. Sometimes she'll sniff bark so intensely - bits of it will stick to her snout. then we we need to find grass so she can wipe her face clean in grass with just a little dew left on it.

But the best part of spring - is truly how Miss Kate does love flowers. Every bloom deserves it's own sniff and inspection. All the early bloomers are out and fragrant. There is a tree here that many yards have that is out right now with the uberfragrant white flowers. With no botanical knowledge I have dubbed them "stinkytrees" - but I'm sure they have a real name. The fragrance is so strong that Miss Kate "loses" the smells on the sidewalk and looks at me like - "not another one of those trees. can we please get moving so I can smell something else?"

We had a short conversation with a rather rotund grey squirrel this morning who was VERY talkative. We got near his tree and he exploded in conversation. Squirrels have never interested Miss Kate so she looked up at the sound and gave him/her the funniest "yes dear - whatever, thanks for saying hi" look I've ever seen. The squirrel kept yapping.

About half way through our walk - the sun broke the trees and we enjoyed a cup of coffee at the bagel shop in the first intense bath of morning sun. Kate is something of a celebrity at the bagel shop. Kids love her soft hair and parents appreciate how patient she is.

There is a Korean family that is almost always at the bagel shop when I get there. and the kids will break out crying in the store if they can't go out front and pet Miss Kate. The dad of family looked like he'd already had a morning full of adorable kid antics when miss kate and I showed up. His little boy wanted to feed Miss Kate and we had a discussion of how people food is bad for dogs - but if I had been in line or not immediately watching I'm sure Miss Kate would have gotten this little boy's entire danish. (she would have loved that.) The little guy simply couldn't understand why doggies wouldn't want danish. It was like I'd suggested that the world was flat.

From there we walked through a pretty much quiet downtown with restaurants full of prep chefs chopping and getting the day's ingredients ready to go. There is an old fashioned style barbershop that is always full of men in their 50s and 60s getting their haircut - and smoking cigars at 8am. :) I know I write these "and this is what we did on our morning walk" posts a lot - but they are mostly for me to remember special days like this. I know that I have an older dog and that mornings like this are important to record. It's also a good time capsule for when I'm surrounded by work orders at work and feeling overwhelmed. Mornings like this are what I work so hard the rest of the week to appreciate.

Comments

[joebehrsandiego.livejournal.com]

You're a great writer. I always enjoy these.

Have your neighbors in the tower accepted Miss Kate?

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

oh - the muffin penthouse buildling is FULL of dogs. My immediate neighbors - I see every once in a while - but I've made several good friends in the building. and several doggyfriends. There is a "smaller dog" (which Miss Kate is almost too big for) play party every night in the lobby of the building at 830pm. LOL! with pugs and miniature bulldogs and small terriers all racing around after a tennis ball. Miss Kate likes the side lines and the 'extralove' from the other owners. Since we started using the harness for walkies - she's much more manageable and doesn't jump on folsk like she can when she's simply "just leash". Several folks call Miss Kate their favorite dog in the building.. mostly because she is so sweet and her fur is so soft. :)

[madknits.livejournal.com]

I enjoy reading these posts (though I usually don't comment on them), partly because I miss taking my girls for a walk, and partly because dogs on a walk are always so intense and I enjoy remembering the sensation that I get to relive through these posts.

However, we always appreciate pictures of the Princess The Queen The Empress The Goddess.

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

and I'm sure you appreciate photos of Miss Kate as well. :)

[bootedintexas.livejournal.com]

DTP almost always has a cigar in the morning (GRIN)

[nyrimmer.livejournal.com]

This is what makes life so good ! These little things like walking around with your dog early in the morning are very special.The world would be a better place if more people took the time to enjoy these moments.I chill with my 3 tortoises out in the back yard when it's warm out.Watching them wander around and coming over to me asking for flowers to eat which I gladly give them.Animals have a way of making everything seem better don't they.

[wrascalbc.livejournal.com]

Miss Gigi thinks walks are "pedestrian" and proclaims a nap in the spring morning sun is best!

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

what do cats know anyways....

[excessor.livejournal.com]

I laughed out loud when you talked about the stinkytrees. My friend Jim and I named them cum-trees because if you think about it, the flowers smell like dried cum. Of course, we only know because we read a lot.

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

and you do read a lot....

[excessor.livejournal.com]

A lot.

[wescobear.livejournal.com]

Are the "stinkytrees" Ginkos? They smell pretty nasty IMHO. Here's the leaf:



The ginkgo biloba tree also has mothball-sized yellowish berries.

[cuboz.livejournal.com]

I LOVE reading about your walks with Miss Kate! :-)

[bootglove.livejournal.com]

Miss Kate as I can imagine rules over the entire Muffin Queendom from her spacious Penthouse far above the commoners..

:-)