And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street
It's is January 6th, unseasonably warm weather for Toronto in January but it is still close to freezing, just a few degrees above zero degrees (Celsius). It's 9:30 in the evening and it has been dark out for over 4 hours now since it is still early in the winter.
Greg are walking home after dropping off my son at his moms' house. We are chatting and holding hands. As we walk south on their street, let's call it Mulberry Street for the sake of argument, there is a large park on the other side of the street. It is great for kids in the summer with a play area, wadding pool, soccer field, tennis courts, baseball diamond and skating rink. But as it is with many parks in Toronto, especially in the evenings, the kids are gone and the park belongs to the dogs. They run around, some with a leash and some without. Their numbers vary depending on time of night, weather and happenstance.
Tonight, at the south end of the park, there are two dogs with their respective masters. The larger dog is blond and is running around free, chasing itself and the wind. The other, a smaller black dog is standing with its master near a tree about 40 feet away from the street toward the middle of the the park. I can see the 4 legs on the little black dog, they stand still next to the master who just continues to stand next to the tree. A pretty boring walk, if you ask me. Then I notice a little read glow, right around where I imagine the dog's neck would be. It is not a steady light, it kinda flickers. I conclude it is a little reflective battery operated collar, like the lights you see cyclists wear when they ride at night. It makes them more visible and I think: "What a good idea for a dog. Makes them more visible and easy to find if they take off in the park and much safer on the streets for the dogs to be more visible to drivers."
I look away and continue to chat with Greg, glance back at the dog and see the little collar flickering in the night. I keep looking because I am quite fascinated with this flickering collar as I am a man who likes flashy toys.
Suddenly, the dog burst into flames, just like you would imagine would happen in the stories of spontaneous combustion you heard about in science class in high school. I am horrified. Being the reasonable type, I can't conceive of spontaneous combustion and I think that fucking owner must have dropped a cigarette and lit that poor dog up like an ignorant frat boy lighting his farts.
I am still about sixty feet away just north of where they are and on the sidewalk. I begin to feel a sense of dread and look as the fire quiets and then flares again. The flames of the flare illuminate the area and I see that it isn't a dog. In fact, the man is standing toward the middle of the park, in January, in Canada, about 40 feet away from the sidewalk, looking down at his little Hibachi bar-b-que grill, which stands about a foot tall on four legs and which has now died down to embers again, looking like a little red flashing light from the sidewalk.
It was a sight so unexpected and so bizarre, it just made more sense to both Greg and I that it was a dog on fire cause when I burst out laughing and told Greg about what I thought I saw, he said he had the same experience.
And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street.
Greg are walking home after dropping off my son at his moms' house. We are chatting and holding hands. As we walk south on their street, let's call it Mulberry Street for the sake of argument, there is a large park on the other side of the street. It is great for kids in the summer with a play area, wadding pool, soccer field, tennis courts, baseball diamond and skating rink. But as it is with many parks in Toronto, especially in the evenings, the kids are gone and the park belongs to the dogs. They run around, some with a leash and some without. Their numbers vary depending on time of night, weather and happenstance.
Tonight, at the south end of the park, there are two dogs with their respective masters. The larger dog is blond and is running around free, chasing itself and the wind. The other, a smaller black dog is standing with its master near a tree about 40 feet away from the street toward the middle of the the park. I can see the 4 legs on the little black dog, they stand still next to the master who just continues to stand next to the tree. A pretty boring walk, if you ask me. Then I notice a little read glow, right around where I imagine the dog's neck would be. It is not a steady light, it kinda flickers. I conclude it is a little reflective battery operated collar, like the lights you see cyclists wear when they ride at night. It makes them more visible and I think: "What a good idea for a dog. Makes them more visible and easy to find if they take off in the park and much safer on the streets for the dogs to be more visible to drivers."
I look away and continue to chat with Greg, glance back at the dog and see the little collar flickering in the night. I keep looking because I am quite fascinated with this flickering collar as I am a man who likes flashy toys.
Suddenly, the dog burst into flames, just like you would imagine would happen in the stories of spontaneous combustion you heard about in science class in high school. I am horrified. Being the reasonable type, I can't conceive of spontaneous combustion and I think that fucking owner must have dropped a cigarette and lit that poor dog up like an ignorant frat boy lighting his farts.
I am still about sixty feet away just north of where they are and on the sidewalk. I begin to feel a sense of dread and look as the fire quiets and then flares again. The flames of the flare illuminate the area and I see that it isn't a dog. In fact, the man is standing toward the middle of the park, in January, in Canada, about 40 feet away from the sidewalk, looking down at his little Hibachi bar-b-que grill, which stands about a foot tall on four legs and which has now died down to embers again, looking like a little red flashing light from the sidewalk.
It was a sight so unexpected and so bizarre, it just made more sense to both Greg and I that it was a dog on fire cause when I burst out laughing and told Greg about what I thought I saw, he said he had the same experience.
And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street.