Thursday, August 26, 2010

Refreshment

The setting sun and cool breeze beckoned me outside. I harnessed and leashed Roxy. Her tail wagged, and eyes brightened. Bidding adieu to the homebodies, we made our escape to the schoolyard. We reached the corner and in usual fashion I said, "Sit. Good dog. Let's go." We were off. Ah, refreshment.

After going through the gate, I unleashed Roxy. She was following behind me. True to her nature, her nose was investigating many things. Up ahead were some California Quail. I didn't show her because I wanted to watch them for awhile. The quail were looking for bugs and seeds. Once Roxy caught glimpse, her cocker spaniel came to the fore and chased them into the bushes. They always escape her through the chain link fence.

The corner of my eye caught sight of the blue heron in the middle of the field. This was something I had never seen here before. Roxy had so much fun chasing the quail that I pointed out the heron to her. She watched it for a minute, and I watched her. She saw it move, then she ran after it, haltingly. I kept walking and watching. Full out run now. The chase was on! The heron flew over to another part of the field. Roxy thought that was so much fun she chased the heron again. Once more, the heron just flew to another part of the field. Roxy's tongue was almost touching the ground. She was watching that heron, while lying in the grass. Roxy had enough of that big bird and returned to her business of scouting scents.

As I cornered the last bend on our walk around the field, I saw some wild rabbits. They were small, and sweet with little white tails. I slowed down so I could watch them. They were eating the green grass, or so it looked to me. Flash! They were off like lightning, back to the safety of the bushes.

Roxy was a great walking companion that night. When we reached the front door, there were a few rays of sunlight left and the breeze was still refreshingly cool. Sans leash and harness, we plopped on the couch together. I know I was thinking about all the critters we saw; I imagined Roxy was, too.

2 comments:

David Cochrane said...

You missed work for that? I did not see any day off request! :P

Unknown said...

Yes, I missed work for that. :P