Telling stories is the only thing that machines cannot automate.

Walking the dog

Automation requires a complex series of if-this-then-this, stories are not that simple.

Daily walks with the dog through the neighborhood I will engage neighbors in conversation.

Depending on what they are doing the conversations can be as simple as “hello.” Other topics that open communication “How long have you lived here?”

The Loving Couple

This article I wrote about the walk where Greg told me about one of his next-door neighbors, where the lady’s husband had passed years ago, and Greg helped her with basic home maintenance.

https://seniorcitizenwriters.org/walking-the-dog-in-the-morning-is-another-writing-muse-2f845d0aed40

On another walk I met her, and we chatted. Prior to the meeting, I had been waving to her frequently while she was walking her dog and I was arriving home in the car.

The Tree Climber

Yesterday while walking I saw one neighbor up his tree with what appeared to be climbing equipment. I asked what he was doing, and he said that he was going to trim a few branches. He had a lot of equipment to trim a few branches. I asked why the equipment. He told me he worked for the forest service and was a fire jumper who dropped ahead of fires and trimmed trees to prevent the spread of fires.

I told him we had a palm tree I would hire him to climb and trim in the future. He said he would work for beer; I said that was a deal.

During the conversation, I asked how long they had lived here. He said six years. I asked if he saw all the palm trees in a house on the corner of the street nearby, one that he would have to pass everyday he drove out of the neighborhood. Funny thing, he did not know of the house. This house, in the front, has about five palm trees. Three towering palms in the back, and the other day walking by I noticed another vice or six smaller palm trees.

The dog has a mind of her own.

We walk daily when the weather permits. We walk mostly in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon. The route is about a mile round trip. We live on a cul-de-sac off the main road. The route to the left has three cul-de-sac and dead ends. The traffic is limited to those who live here and their guests.

We start the walk and go either left or right. I was going right for a while and Nellie decided one day she wanted to have input and decided going left, ok let us go left. While walking she might decide that she wants to walk on the other side of the street. She will walk fast and then other times slow down or even stop and look at the area.

This time of year, when there are winds, she has her nose in the air smelling all the odors. One odor that interest her is squirrels. That is the only animal that she is interested in. We have several squirrels in our backyard, and they get her attention. Birds, cats, other dog, she seemly no interest.

Do you have any walking the dog stories?

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