In any situation, the best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing.
Theodore Roosevelt
There is a park near our home.
Every day for the past almost 5 years, we were in that park at least 4 times a day, making sure a certain Pup got his breaks, his exercise and got to meet his friends.. both new and old.
There was the little Cocker Spaniel, whose owner has health problems, walks slowly, eases himself onto a bench .. sometimes with a book, sometimes with a little radio that he listens to.
The Spaniel would trot along, no leash, sniffing, browsing, when Pup would catch his eye .
He would come trotting over to us, pausing to say Hello to Pup, catch up on any doggie goings on then come over to me ..
As I would bend to pet him, he would fall over like a dead animal and put his belly up for me to scratch. He always made me laugh.
Some days we would all walk around the park together, my husband and I, Pup and the little Cocker.
There were larger, aggressive dogs that required me to throw myself in between Pup and them .. saving Pup's older, more gentle bones from the impact of a not-so-well-trained German Shepherd or even scarier for us ( me ) a very large, black, Giant Schnauzer.
Whose owner had to pull him off Pup by the ears. Scary.
When Pup started having less energy and was not up to a long walk, we would go to the park and just sit.
He would lie in the grass and sniff, smile, pant , look around and generally, be an old man enjoying the fresh air.
Then he was unable to walk that far and we would just go around the corner.
Now that Pup is gone, my husband and I have this gap where our days were full of walking and fresh air and always something to enjoy. .
The parks are still painful reminders that he is not with us, but they are good places for sitting and people watching.
Now with the bicycle rentals nearby, I expect we will be seen , riding away .. my husband riding like he has been on a bike every day, me ... wobbling, squeaking and yelping..
I would hate to fall down .
Skin my knee.
Like a 5 year old on my first bike. ( I still have a scar on my knee from that bike.)
In the "Pup's Park" .. there are benches .. you can sit in the shade, or in the sun or lie on one if you wish.
You can also be a street person and live on one.
The street person in this park is a lady .. impossible to guess how old she is, she has no teeth and the most wrinkled face I have ever seen.
She sits on the bench, naps, people watches and eats a snack now and then.
One day we saw her just sitting there, it was chilly.
I had a bag of scones we had just gotten at the bakery on the way to the park.
I walked over and offered her a scone.
She took it.
I smiled and walked away .. it felt good to be able to do something personal and yet not make it a big philanthropic gesture .. just sharing.
I looked back .. she was feeding the scone to the pigeons.
I am still working this out.
But at least I know that I did something.
