Having a dog includes the joy/pleasure/responsibility/annoyance of having to take him out a few times every day. For me it's become the last duty of the day: Grab the lesh and the the flashlight and make one more trip out. Although we don't go far, a flashlight is pretty handy when it comes to avoiding potholes, fallen branches, and cleaning up dog messes in the dark.
Last night while walking the dog I was reminded of a trip I took about 40 years ago. Back in the 70's I rode the train by myself from LA up to Salem, Oregon for summer work in my brother-in-law's supermarket. (Came to find out I could have saved the fare-- I only lasted a week.) At any rate, the ride up on the train was amazing. I don't know quite how this worked but I know I got served a beer or two in the lounge car. What I remember most, however, is sitting up in the dome car late at night. I somehow had become part of a party that ended with everyone konked out except me and an elderly couple sitting up there, in a glass dome, riding through the Siskiyou Mountains, under an amazing canopy of stars, watching the night world go by. No sound, just stars and the swaying of the train. And up ahead, the only illumination came from the headlight of the engine cutting a swath of light along its path through the mountains. It was a gorgeous moment, removed from everything-- a timeout, as it happened, as a chapter in my life was about to end.
All that from a dog walk. Seems like a pretty reasonable trade-off for having to follow my dog out in the dark of night.
Lovely story. I miss train travel through Europe. Aw... that was sweet.
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