Unfortunately, errands creep into the morning agenda sometimes, forcing me to stray off the beaten path to take care of business, usually along Fort Street. But, today I decided to sidetrack down a few streets in Southgate just to make it interesting.  I passed at least a half-dozen homes where pooches were positioned at the front window, looking expectantly for their master or mistress … the sad truth was that their pet parent(s) probably just left a few minutes earlier and would not return for many long hours.  You know your precious pets begin whining and pacing the minute you shut the door, and, if they wore watches or could tell time, they’d be getting very anxious as the day wears on.  There is nothing like the love of a pet at the end of the day, or even just a few hours – someone to welcome you back and make you feel special.  I’ve had my own parade of pooches while growing up and since it is “Throwback Thursday”, I’ve included them above.  It doesn’t matter your pet’s breed or even size … if I’m gone from the kitchen more than a few minutes, my canary Buddy will begin to sing, as if to call me to say “hurry back”.

I arrived at the allergist ahead of schedule, hoping to be the first one in, and then out in record time. They are especially busy at this time of the year.  With nothing to do, except stand in place like a statue, I looked across the street to 7-Eleven.  A man came out of the store and retrieved a big white dog from a car.  While keeping him tethered on a long leash, he let that dog run in an empty lot behind the store.  I figure they lived in a place that had no yard, because that dog seized the moment to run and jump in the overgrown grass and dandelions.  Soon he was on his back, wriggling around in the warm weeds and smiling away.  You do know that dogs smile, don’t you?  I got a real kick out of the antics of the dog, who kept looking up at his owner, as if to say “care to join me here?”

It sure looked like a lot of fun, and I could recall many a time as a youngster playing in the meadow with my friends – all of us on our backs, looking up at the sky and deciding what the cloud formations reminded us of … warm Summer days and warmer memories.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re man or beast:

Simple pleasures are life’s treasures. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson