Enthusiasm

I think my dogs are perpetual optimists.  They waited until after 2 today to get a walk around the neighborhood, as my wife and I had church and then a picnic immediately afterward.  They were very happy to go down a road they haven’t frequently walked.  Lots of smell stops and lots of dogs barking at unfamiliar interlopers.  After the walk, I was working a little bit in the garage while my wife prepared the evening meal.    Their energy tempered somewhat, they still would dash to the kitchen  When no tasty morsel fell from the food my wife was preparing, they dashed to the backyard to bark at the neighbor’s dog, and then to the garage to see what I was up to.  In contrast to the Sundays I barbecue, there were no meaty bits of fat or bones to give them, but the looks we got across the room were still  ‘hopeful’.  With dinner done, each would very obviously eye the door handle where their halters hang, in the hope that as it was now dark , I would take them for the evening walk.

They may have associated the mid-afternoon walk with the first walk of the day (expecting a second as is the normal routine).    I hated to dampen their optimism but this is one Sunday night I am turning in early.  My eyes are blurry; the pace of the weekend’s activities has caught up with me.  With one last nudge at my elbows, even Dexter ceased flipping his dog bed up and down and has settled in for a nap.

In the morning, they will enthusiastically rouse me for their morning walk.    I wish I could be optimistic about going to work as they are about walks, biscuits, and tasty morsels falling to the kitchen floor.