my friend at sprocket & stone, the dog and cat store, had to quit walking due to stress on her skeleton. it can be a hazardous occupation, depending on the dog. today i said am i totally ineffectual with dogs? but i'm not that bad, mostly the dogs are good to me and i'm good to them, and we negotiate the world with some measure of grace and wit. sure, lulu got antsy and pulled, and spooked, and comet ate half a waffle powdered with playground dirt and i got mad like i shouldn't, but we have impulses, and emotions. we're not all goodie-two-shoes, calm and reasonable all the time, gnome sane.
there's a mournful trombone playing somewhere down below as i write this. and now a howling ambulance siren.