TheBanyanTree: Break time

[Monique Colver]

Time for a break from work. My mind's going numb. 
	
Yesterday we went to the dog park, with the dogs. Going without the dogs
would be rather silly, since it is a dog park. It was a warm day, which was
unexpected since we'd had a storm and hail the night before, but our weather
has been nothing if not bipolar, so we're learning to just go with the flow.

Part of the dog park runs along a slough, and there are spots here and there
that provide access to the water. Unlike one of our other dog parks it's not
sandy beach to the water, but the dogs don't really care. Ash took the first
opportunity to climb onto the bordering rocks and jump in, even before there
was a ball thrown to chase. He doesn't care as much for the ball as he does
the water itself, and he'll paddle furiously to get to a ball only to turn
and come back without it just so he can swim back to it again. Honey, on the
other hand, regards full water immersion with disdain, and usually will only
get close enough to lean over and drink the water. At one point she climbed
all the way in and stood there, water up to her belly, and smiled back at
us. We wondered if she'd be able to climb back out, the barrier there being
a higher than in other places, but when the time came she leapt back up onto
the bank as if she were two again. Her old age act is just that, an act. She
can be quite nimble when she wants to. (At home we sometimes confine her to
a landing with a child safety gate until both she and Ash finish eating so
she won't eat his food. When she's done she stands there and whines to be
let out, but if we aren't paying attention and she decides she doesn't want
to wait she'll just leap over the child safety gate as if it weren't even
there.)
Since it was a Monday afternoon the dog park wasn't as crowded, but there
were still enough dogs around for ours to run around with. Ash will run all
day, and he loves to carry sticks around, so he did that, while the rest of
us ambled along. This meant he would run far ahead, then run back and keep
going past us, then turn around and run ahead of us again. It's like walking
with a whirling dervish.
When we got to the other side of the dog park (it has many sides, the place
is huge), an area with a big open field and a many trees on the side, we sat
down in the shade while Ash ran huge circles around and through the field,
involving himself with other dogs and startling people with his sudden
appearance.  
	That's when I noticed the sky. It was shallow, a big blue bowl
turned upside down so we were looking at the inside of it. A few clouds
dotted the skies, wisps of white on the so-blue background, and I thought if
I could reach up another ten feet or so I could touch the inside the bowl. I
could touch the sky itself, and it would be solid and unyielding, and yet
safe. It would protect us from whatever was on the outside of the bowl. We
don't know what's out there, and we don't really want to know, not if
knowing would change our perceptions of ourselves, because inside the bowl
we're safe and we can live our lives without worry. 
	I marveled at the sky for a bit longer. If it had been night I was
certain the stars would have been several feet over my head. I felt wrapped
in a warm soft blanket where nothing could touch me, and where all was at
peace. 
	I'm told this is not reality, but isn't it? Why can't the times like
this be the times of reality, and the rest of it, the uncomfortable part, be
the unreality? I can't make that determination, so I will go with what I
feel. 
	The dogs played together for a bit, Honey chasing Ash. He's learned
to run with his butt close to the ground when she's after him, because
she'll reach for his tail to pull him back with, so he keeps it close to the
ground where it's harder for her to get, and they'll run in circles and then
both rear back on their hind legs and make as if they're going for each
other's throats, but it's all play, and Honey is so pleased with herself
when she manages to knock him down, but he just gets up and makes her do it
again and again, because he loves to play with her. 
	It was a fine day at the dog park. Then again, I've never had a bad
day at the dog park.