February 16, 2010

White Dog barked a warning to our neighbor at the same time I heard the squeal of brakes locking up. The "Cat" lady across the street was about halfway backed out of her driveway when some speedster tried to cut around behind. He slammed on his brakes and she blew her horn. Next thing White Dog and I knew, Speedy had blocked Cat Lady's exit and was getting out of his car. White Dog was amazed at the amount of anger his language and body movement conveyed and she asked me why. "Perhaps he is in a hurry somewhere and felt that she should have been watching more closely," I guessed. "But if he is in a hurry why is he wasting all this time screaming and throwing a temper tantrum?" I shrugged because I am bewildered by exactly that same thought every time I see one of these scenes play out on the road or in the grocery line. White Dog continued, "Humans always seem like they are in a rush to do everything and they end up being unhappy and unfulfilled because they miss all the interesting stuff along the way." I nodded. "For example," White Dog said, "if that guy would have paused long enough to let our neighbor finish backing out he might have noticed the hawk in the tree across the street...or that the cars form a pattern along the curb: red, silver, silver, red, silver, silver, black...or that the sun is really warm if you tilt your face up into it. Instead now he is all frazzled and he upset our neighbor and he is late for whatever was so important. Does that make any sense?" I have to admit, when the White Dog is right, she is right!