Some Village Dogs Had A Field Day Yesterday,

Promenade Friday perhaps?

Again it was one of those picture book perfect end of summer days, where the sky was insanely blue, the leaves protesting hard against the gravity of autumn, with a bit of orange starting to emerge. Not a cloud to be seen, but for a change the lane next to our forest was teeming with dogs, oh, and their owners too.

Having finished my weekly walk with a friend, I was on my way back home, which incidentally took me along said forest lane. You know, one of those lanes we all remember from childhood; two pebbled strips with a grass bridge between them. Nowadays it's jolly difficult to stumble, yet along amble over them as everyone and their uncle Charlie are rushing out to build, build and build some more and thus destroy those reminders of our childhoods.

At the start of this forest lane, I met my first dog with its owner. An extremely happy and friendly dog who just took me for granted and carried on imbibing the wondrous aromas and treasures of a forest edge. Don't fret, he left many a calling card just in case anyone would doubt he'd been there.

The three of us ambled ( next to a tempting forest, walking isn't possible unless you count stop starts, jumps over a leash or even untangling of leash as a walk ) along for about a few hundred meters and then they turned back home. Still thinking of this nice encounter, I rounded a curve and saw another dog, with its two owners standing shooting the breeze with a friend on a tractor. Real rural stuff indeed.

Friday must have a calming influence on dogs, as even this one never barked nor showed that much of an interest in me. Another pit stop for me, some more conversation interspersed with a few dog cuddles. He didn't mind. It was nice to chat, especially as everyone was in a fabulous mood, and honestly, I felt re-energized, content with my world.

Waving my goodbyes I turned another corner and yes, met another dog and owner pair. This dog had seen me earlier on my walk from behind garden gates and had given me the proper dog reception...a cascading crescendo of barks and quivering muscle display, which I told him then and there, to give it a rest.

When he came towards me, leashed of course, I expected another display of noise but to my surprise he was as meek as a church mouse and just seemed to be pleased for the opportunity to follow the delights of a forest edge, while leaving a few reciprocal calling cards in his path.

What a nice start to my Friday it turned out to be...

Biggi