pleasures remain, so does the pain
I haven't been walking up the hill in the mornings much lately - either because it's seemed too cold/rainy or I've been sick and wanting to move as little as possible. But I had the strength this morning and it wasn't raining so I went for it. The 18 from lower Queen Anne let me off at 1st and Pine as it always does and I walked east until I was at the corner of Pine and 4th. A man was walking his dog, a kind of black lab mix, and I took special note of its red coat. Not a fancy one, and the dog probably would have been fine without it (not really super cold out), but I liked that his owner had taken the time to put it on.
I decided to cut over to Pike along fourth and so did this man and his dog. Halfway down the block past the water fountain, the man let the dog off his leash. I assumed they were close to home and that was why he'd done it. Not so. They too turned up Pike and the dog stayed leashless. It's nearly impossible to catch all the green lights walking east on Pike in the mornings, so at each corner, the dog would dutifully wait at the curb until he just seemed to know that the light had changed. I didn't hear his owner say anything to him. The dog would scamper ahead while on the sidewalk, but stopped at each and every corner. At sixth, a woman came up next to me and asked if it was my dog. I said no, and motioned to the owner over to our left.
Since I love dogs, I usually don't have a problem with them being off leash if it's safe. Downtown Seattle during morning rush hour is a bit dubious. An offleash dog is definitely an unusual occurence, but something about unexpectedly following offleash dog and owner all the way up past Boren made my morning a little better.
I decided to cut over to Pike along fourth and so did this man and his dog. Halfway down the block past the water fountain, the man let the dog off his leash. I assumed they were close to home and that was why he'd done it. Not so. They too turned up Pike and the dog stayed leashless. It's nearly impossible to catch all the green lights walking east on Pike in the mornings, so at each corner, the dog would dutifully wait at the curb until he just seemed to know that the light had changed. I didn't hear his owner say anything to him. The dog would scamper ahead while on the sidewalk, but stopped at each and every corner. At sixth, a woman came up next to me and asked if it was my dog. I said no, and motioned to the owner over to our left.
Since I love dogs, I usually don't have a problem with them being off leash if it's safe. Downtown Seattle during morning rush hour is a bit dubious. An offleash dog is definitely an unusual occurence, but something about unexpectedly following offleash dog and owner all the way up past Boren made my morning a little better.