WALKING....AFTER MIDNIGHT

So I try, I really do. When it's not raining or if I'm not completely exhausted, I set my alarm for 5 a.m. and take Snoopy for a walk around the block. I rather enjoy these walks once I get out the door.

The problem is usually getting out the door. So many times after a middle of the night bathroom run, I reset the alarm for that extra 30 minutes of sleep. I have to reset before it goes off because if it should go off, I have no choice. Snoopy is right there with her cold, wet nose and wagging tail expecting at 5 a.m. to go on a walk and at 5:30 to go outside and get fed breakfast at the very least.

And I swear to God, the dog can tell time. Somehow she has figured out the big numbers on the alarm clock because if I should not set the alarm on the weekends for example (if I stay in the city), she is still there at 5:30 trying to be the responsible pet and make sure her person is up and taking care of things. You laugh, but I actually turn the clock away from her sight at the country house on the weekends so she won't know the time. This causes all sorts of confusion from her waking me at 3 a.m. demanding breakfast to me waking her up when I get up (those are the heavenly days)---we have more of the first kind, however.

Anyway, back to our walks....it's just getting light when I go out (summer starts on Sunday, so the days will begin to shorten on me soon), and it's quiet. There are a few lights on in the houses but for the most part, the neighborhood is still sound asleep and no cars are moving anywhere.

Occasionally, I'll see the neighborhood police car rounding the block with me. For some reason, this usually happens when Snoopy is happily using someone's yard as her toilet and I have to make a big show of removing my "responsible" plastic bag from my pocket. Our neighborhood newsletter harps every month about being a "responsible" dog walker and "clean up after your dogs."

We see alot of cats running around this time, going home from wherever their nightly travels have taken them and the occasional squirrel. No dogs barking though which is odd. When we walk in the evening, dogs bark constantly while walking the whole circle around the block. Guess our neighborhood dogs must be inside sleeping too.

My neighbor's light is usually on---the young boy that lives alone. His parents have seemed to have abandoned him for their own lives which is sad. He lives alone and has finished high school finally and is a pizza delivery driver now. His dad comes over every couple of days to check on him and I suppose get the mail but otherwise this kid is left to his own devices. For someone that young, we are very lucky, he doesn't seem to be a big partyer. He has friends over but they stay inside and are relatively quiet. I always wonder if he justs stays up all night and sleeps during the day or what, to explain his lights being on.

Halfway, around the block, there is a light on in a bedroom and every morning, a woman is sitting at a computer in her bedroom. Is she just surfing or actually working from home at this hour? Who knows.

Then I come to the house that puts a smile on my face every morning because it reminds me of Fantastic Son. He works very early hours so they can get off work before the high heat of afternoon occurs in the cactus state. He's also one for carpooling whenever he can work out his job site with where his current co-workers live.

Anyway, every morning, a young guy in a pick-up truck pulls into this driveway and sits there a minute. The lights are on at the house so the occupant(s) are/should be awake. The truck driver sits there about a minute and then he honks and sometimes honks a second time (I bet his neighbors love him!) before the guy in the house opens the door and waves or pulls aside the curtains and waves. Then a few minutes later he finally comes out of the house.

This is amusing to me because I am usually rounding the corner when this truck drives down the street and I witness all this as I'm walking up the street and pass the house and usually by the time I'm halfway down the street, I hear the truck backing out of the driveway and off they go to work. This scenario is the same EVERY day. I wonder why the guy at the house is never ready when his driver pulls in and for some reason FS comes to mind and I smile.

Everyone's just doing their best.

Until later....Grammy