she's still goofy and excitatious but i like it. i get down on the grass with her and play like a dog on the rise in front of rockefeller chapel by the president's house. i lay on my back on the garden lawn and she straddles me and we wrestle with a stick. i watch how beautifully the dogs play together and i want to do that, as far as it's possible with my human limitations. we learn how to play together, and so we learn how to play in the world. we go back to the simple things, we don't worry about obedience, we cooperate. we play.