Rainy Day Walk

This morning it was raining, so I considered not walking the dog. However, Fanny was on All Systems Go status from the moment I put on my shoes. Every movement, every change in position was a chance for her to show me how she was ready, whenever I was. As Dave pointed out, "It's just as well she can't talk." Yes, otherwise we would have had to listen to something like this:

Do you want to go Now? How about NOW? I'm ready to go now, if you are. I could be ready to go in 5 minutes, although I'm ready to go NOW, but only if you want to. Go now, I mean. Because 5 minutes is good too. If that is when you wanted to go. Because I was just thinking that a walk about now would be good. But that doesn't mean we couldn't go in 5 minutes if we needed to wait that long. (Repeat.)

So I finally put her leash on, grabbed the umbrella, and we went. I was glad that we braved the rain, because we saw some interesting things. First we met the meter reader a block from our house. Normally she is wearing shorts and a tank top, but today she had on a rain slicker, so I didn't recognize her. But Fanny did. Because she is Fanny's Favorite Meter Reader In The Whole World. We stopped, talked for a few minutes, and she managed to get Fanny all excited about the prospect of a visit very soon from The Very Best Meter Reader In The Whole World.

We met the white dog on the corner as well. We have a lot of corners and a lot of dogs so let me just specify the White Dog on the Corner who just got a funny, new haircut. Normally White Dog on the Corner doesn't care for people and pets who attempt to use the sidewalk in front of his house-- you might call it his sidewalk. Until his owner shortened his leash, in fact, White Dog on the Corner didn't allow people or pets to actually use his sidewalk. But today, in the rain he was very mellow. He just sat on the porch and watched us walk by without so much as a snarl.

The 6 mischievous kittens were out as well. Usually they are all piled into the same window box-- a big blob of black with 6 pairs of green eyes that follow your progress down the street in a very unearthly sort of way. But today, they were cavorting about as though school had just let out. For all I know there is a rule that on sunny days they have to stay in the window box.

The corner Barber shop was open but had no business; the barber was fast asleep in the chair. He looked as though he was waiting for Andy and Barney to show up. Fanny missed her daily wave from him, but she knows, come rain or come shine, she'll get a wave tomorrow.