December 19, 2004

December 19, 2004

Rainbow's End

DAY 185

 

Today was another one of those bright, sunny, warm days that I am so fond of. When we were leaving Ottawa on June 18, it was this sort of day, and I commented to Joanne that it was my goal to chase "Ottawa June 18" weather. For the most part, I've succeeded.

Today started early. Bo and Teddy woke us up a little earlier than usual to be fed. I got up and fed them early, thinking that I could make up for it later in the afternoon with a nap, since we weren't going anywhere today. I spent the morning slowly puttering away at maintenance and housekeeping chores. After each little chore, I took a break to take Bo for a long walk. I had forgotten how much more exercise I get when we have a dog. Bo is always "up" for a walk. I just wander around the park with my little dog, like all the rest of the old "retired" guys here. We walk around in our shirt sleeves, with our little dogs, in the warm sunshine, thinking about this being the busiest shopping weekend of the year, and how stressed out everybody working in retail must be. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA SNORT HA HA ! All that laughing made me tired, so Teddy, Bo, and I took a long nap.

This afternoon we wandered around the park, exploring. We wandered over to the C.A.R.E. Centre to take a look. We bumped into an old man shuffling slowly around, breathing heavily. He patted Bo, and then told us how much he misses his dog. He's just had heart surgery, and is recuperating. He's unable to take his dog for walks so soon after major surgery, so she's being boarded in a nearby kennel. He would like to bring her home in 2 weeks, but can only do that if the C.A.R.E. Centre can recruit volunteers to walk the dog for him. We told him we would do it. The old man was almost in tears with joy.

This evening we went to the weekly ice cream social. Everybody sits around eating ice cream or drinking root beer floats, socializing. The founders of the Escapees organization, Joe and Kay Peterson were there. Joanne and I had signed up yesterday as volunteers to clean up after the event. Almost all activities here are planned, prepared, done, and cleaned up after, by volunteers. Each daily or weekly activity has a sign up sheet, and all Escapees are expected to make small contributions of time and effort from time to time. The system works amazingly well.

DSK