Canine Sense
He trots along in the dark, eyes fixed upon the road beneath his mud-splattered feet as the brass tag dangling from his dark leather collar jingles softly. He seems to take no notice of the strong wind beyond flattening his ears and keeping his head down. His stride is quick and purposeful, conjuring visions of a warm welcome from his family when he returns home.
The headlights from our slowly approaching car shine upon his trim form traveling down the middle of the street and we wonder if it will matter to him in the slightest. There’s no indication that he’s aware of our pending arrival until, without so much as a glance backward, he immediately swerves to the side of the pavement. We glide past unimpeded.
As I turn to get one last glimpse before he vanishes in the darkness, I can’t help but feel bemused. Why is it that one of the only examples I’ve seen testifying to a sense of self-preservation in this country comes from a dog facing away from the something-ton vehicle bearing down on it?
The little old men and women who populate the streets in broad daylight could learn a thing or two.
2 comments:
It's probably because the dog knows that people will run it over while the little old man or woman has lived long enough to become little (well, maybe "littler" since they're Japanese) and old; so they asume that they shall continue living for the foreseeable future and that you shall obey the law and not hit them... even if they are breaking the law by stepping in front of you. I bet if you hit a few of them, it will dissuade the others from this illogical theory.
Dakota is the same way. She just walks along, figuring that any adult (regardless of how tall they are or which direction they are facing), sibling, friend, animal, or inanimate object will move or dodge out of her way... sadly this idea has resulted in numerous bumps, bruises, and owies. It also scores her lots of hugs and kisses from horrified adults after they knock her down, so perhaps it all works out in the end (walls seem less inclined to care about the damage done to here, however).
I hope you guys are having a good week. One more week to Thanksgiving and one more week until Heather comes home for a few days!!!! Hurray!
Oooh, a rare Heather-sighting. Lucky!
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