I and our dog are ponderers in our wanderings each time we walk outside we lag behind for the most part analyzing the moods and the smells of Nature that surround us so!

Our dog is a companion to us both and to me 

He reminds me a whole lot of me and I see

And feel sometimes our similar bonds of be-

Ing very much the same , a coincidence I

Must suppose and very much one that I

Welcome!

I get the morning shift with our good that comes to sleep by my side as often

I get up to walk him, though blessed recently by surgery on my left eye retina

So no walking at all! The break has been appreciated, my wife picking up my

Slack, thank you for that, it has given me the time to heal and realize what is

Most important to me - you!

This morning walk we stopped going up

Our slight hill on Ventura, as we paused 

And I looked down I was greeted by

So many acorn heads or caps now missing

Their brown shiny seeds that are probably

Mostly eaten by now, dug up from around

Us ,earlier buried last fall- early winter

By so many squirrels and chipmunks for

Winter’s meals and nourishments. So

Many heads scattered on this pavement by 

The water from our melting snow.

I was amazed, taken back, wow, what a slick wet sight

To behold, with broken branches, too, what a haphazard

Scattering and temporary placement of these wet shiny

Or matted browns! It gave me pause to further reflect.

As I walk with our dog Nature feed me ideas in parts, bits, so 

Much for me to take in, but I am mostly them in my Tony state-of-

Mind  and absorbed in my and my dog’s thoughts, our tug and

Pulls, our awareness of each other but yet very much in our own 

worlds, his nose and keen sense of smell driving him, his aware sightings of peops and their dogs, his wanting to stay or rush over

And greet them, me pulling way back as that is very much my 

Natural temperament, BUT keenly knowing that anything can set

Our dog off and that he will snap and growl, and defend or take

That which he deems his, tricky moments that are better handled

By keeping our distance. So, so many of our walks are solitary.

I wish I could change that but I have to be vigilant and keep peace

And harmony in our neighborhood world , that is best, let him jump

And yank the lady as he strikes out at squirrels, crows, chipmunks,

Let that be our world as well as fallen branches with leaves that may

Have been where squirrels may have nested way up high in trees 

Above, and where now, our dog for certain in his thinking must pee!