monday walk towards willow pond

I really wanted to goto ward's today, it was bright, sunny, and the light was beautiful. but when we crossed the jamaica way, carver insisted on heading towards daisy field. I never know what drives him one way or the other, but he has definite opinions, and they are different from day to day. was it a particular smell? or did he have a hankering for goose poop, which is so plentiful in the baseball field? it seemed silly to fight him , to insist he take MY walk, although secretly I am planning on going to ward's tomorrow. anyway, he was full of energy and drive until we arrived-apparently the plan was to stand around a lot. it took us an hour to get home.

This is not my favorite walk-usually the daisy field area is full of people from the brook house walking their dogs after work-not the friendliest bunch. they see another dog coming, and grip their own to their sides-why not let your dog sniff a butt or two? the worst are the people on their cell phones-I saw a man almost allow his puppy to be run over by a car today. the puppy ran into the street after a dropped ball-the guy didn't even notice, chatting away. I yelled hey and he just dragged the dog back onto the side walk, not even acknowledging the car that had to screech to a halt to avoid the pup or me, not missing a beat in his conversation. I have to admit that I have spent many walks totally distracted, not noticing carver. one of the gifts that cancer brings is a fresh attitude and appreciation for every moment, especially the sunny day walks. that puppy was so full of life, so full of goodness, I just wanted that man to really take him in, he deserves that. I wanted to tell him how fast it all goes by, that their time together was limited, that he shouldn't waste a moment. gosh, for all I know, it was a dog walker and not the owner. anyway, this is why I am not crazy about this particular walk, and why I am even less crazy about just standing around there.

so, we walked some and stood some. sniffed a lot. saw our friend keith in his truck & waved hello. carver let his nose doing all the deciding. that and his feet. something I love about carver is that he really loves texture. moving water and smooth rocks. tall grass that brush against his muzzle. piles of crunchy leaves. thick mud between his toes. a wet packed snowbank to lay on. bark mulch to kick back. brambles to break through that stick to his coat. he is alive in all his senses, but I think next to smell, touch is his favorite. forget taste, he does not have the time!
tomorrow, we will got ward's (unless carver has another plan).