Small yet profound
Mar. 11th, 2010 08:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seabird78I need a break from the Nashville recapping, and so I thought I'd take a minute to tell about something that happened when I was walking home from the train station after work.
I had already crossed the bridge that runs over 290, and was finishing the final leg of my walk. It's about four blocks on a residential street, and there were more people crossing my path than usual thanks to the nice weather.
One of those people was a middle-aged woman, who had her brown-and-white puppy out for a stroll. I'm not sure what breed the doggie was, but she was more white than brown, and really, tiny and fluffy. Kind of like a shag rug with four legs, you know? Super cute.
So anyway, the woman reaches me and the puppy, who was on a leash that had an extender thing, comes bounding up to me, barking and wagging her tail in a most friendly greeting. I stopped to say hello, and she attempted to jump up my leg. Due to her size he barely reached my knee when she got up on her hind legs.
After my experiences with Weeve (who I will admit is slowly getting less fearful) I was thrilled to encounter an animal so excited to see me, and so I bent over to pet the wee girl, also letting her lick my hand.
Her owner scolded the pup in an amused but also exasperated tone, telling her, "Get down," and to me saying, "I'm so sorry. She's too friendly for her own good. She's only three months old."
"It's okay. She's beautiful," I said. I would have been content to stay and mingle with my new canine friend, but since it was clear the lady wanted to move along, I stepped back and reassured her that I was not bothered at all by being jumped.
The lady was saying something else, but then lost her grip on the leash in her hand. It clattered on the sidewalk, and the puppy paused for a second, but then realized she was free and made a break for it. I thought I should help since I was standing closest to the dog. She ran behind me and I spun to grab her. I was quick enough that I was able to put a hand on her neck to hold her steady, and then I bent over to get hold of the leash. Unfortunately, I wasn't holding the dog steady enough to keep her still, and so she ran in a circle around my legs. In trying to keep my hand on the dog while moving with the her and staying bent over, I tripped over myself and landed flat on my ass on the pavement.
The impact was jarring and I won't say it didn't hurt. But even though I was embarrassed at being so clumsy, my fall was made better by the fact that the dog jumped into my lap immediately after and jumped on my chest and started licking my face. It was so sweet and so adorable that I could hardly hear the lady scolding her dog for causing the accident and apologizing profusely. All I could do was laugh and laugh and laugh in appreciation of this unexpected but enthusiastic affection. The woman continued apologizing and collected her dog, after which she extended a hand and helped me up.
"Again, I'm so, so sorry." She helped me dust off my backside, which had gotten a little muddy thanks to the wet pavement.
"Really, it's nothing." I said. And I wasn't bullshitting. I know the woman didn't know me and she had to assume that I might react badly, so I'm not faulting her for her concern. But like I said, I may have felt dumb for not being able to keep my balance, but other than that I SERIOUSLY needed this sort of experience. It reminded me that joy still exists in the face of pain. And that there is much pleasure to be found in letting go.
Two life lessons that always bear repeating.
I had already crossed the bridge that runs over 290, and was finishing the final leg of my walk. It's about four blocks on a residential street, and there were more people crossing my path than usual thanks to the nice weather.
One of those people was a middle-aged woman, who had her brown-and-white puppy out for a stroll. I'm not sure what breed the doggie was, but she was more white than brown, and really, tiny and fluffy. Kind of like a shag rug with four legs, you know? Super cute.
So anyway, the woman reaches me and the puppy, who was on a leash that had an extender thing, comes bounding up to me, barking and wagging her tail in a most friendly greeting. I stopped to say hello, and she attempted to jump up my leg. Due to her size he barely reached my knee when she got up on her hind legs.
After my experiences with Weeve (who I will admit is slowly getting less fearful) I was thrilled to encounter an animal so excited to see me, and so I bent over to pet the wee girl, also letting her lick my hand.
Her owner scolded the pup in an amused but also exasperated tone, telling her, "Get down," and to me saying, "I'm so sorry. She's too friendly for her own good. She's only three months old."
"It's okay. She's beautiful," I said. I would have been content to stay and mingle with my new canine friend, but since it was clear the lady wanted to move along, I stepped back and reassured her that I was not bothered at all by being jumped.
The lady was saying something else, but then lost her grip on the leash in her hand. It clattered on the sidewalk, and the puppy paused for a second, but then realized she was free and made a break for it. I thought I should help since I was standing closest to the dog. She ran behind me and I spun to grab her. I was quick enough that I was able to put a hand on her neck to hold her steady, and then I bent over to get hold of the leash. Unfortunately, I wasn't holding the dog steady enough to keep her still, and so she ran in a circle around my legs. In trying to keep my hand on the dog while moving with the her and staying bent over, I tripped over myself and landed flat on my ass on the pavement.
The impact was jarring and I won't say it didn't hurt. But even though I was embarrassed at being so clumsy, my fall was made better by the fact that the dog jumped into my lap immediately after and jumped on my chest and started licking my face. It was so sweet and so adorable that I could hardly hear the lady scolding her dog for causing the accident and apologizing profusely. All I could do was laugh and laugh and laugh in appreciation of this unexpected but enthusiastic affection. The woman continued apologizing and collected her dog, after which she extended a hand and helped me up.
"Again, I'm so, so sorry." She helped me dust off my backside, which had gotten a little muddy thanks to the wet pavement.
"Really, it's nothing." I said. And I wasn't bullshitting. I know the woman didn't know me and she had to assume that I might react badly, so I'm not faulting her for her concern. But like I said, I may have felt dumb for not being able to keep my balance, but other than that I SERIOUSLY needed this sort of experience. It reminded me that joy still exists in the face of pain. And that there is much pleasure to be found in letting go.
Two life lessons that always bear repeating.
