esrosedotblog

MOUNT BOOKER

No. Not the location. The activity.

Last night, one more time, we encountered an old Franklin friend who had not heard of his death.

It is fairly easy now to move through the story and not get tripped up with tears. Until we meet a good friend.

We cut through the Steinmart shopping center. It is a nice place. A huge fountain. Cobblestones. A lot of grass.

And there on the grass is a neighbor playing Frisbee with his border collie.

The collie and Franklin have a checkered past. The guy used to (I don't think he does any more and I am glad that he doesn't) bike past with the collie on a long leash running along side.

I think this borders on cruelty to say nothing of danger of accident for both dog and rider.

It used to drive Franklin nuts.

Then, one day we were walking and the man and dog were in front of their house with no leash and the dogs met. Voila! Peace in the valley. Sniff, sniff, BFF!

This helped the guy and I have a few words other than "Goddamit" and we bonded too. No sniffs although I would have liked to. This is one of the handsomest guys in the area. Also the longest pony tail in a half braid woven in with a ribbon. Hunk. Smile to die for. But I digress.

We actually never saw them in the bike combo again but Franklin would decide to walk along to their house and we would find them at home often enough to repeat the trip. We all got to be more friends.

It was hard to tell the story again.

It is not hard with casual acquaintances any more. The other night a couple came along and said "hello Franklin" to Booker and so I told them. They were clearly uncomfortable to hear it. A hello would have been enough. They were not buddies. There are non-dog people who pretend to like dogs. Like that. I would rather they just go past and not fake it. We all know. At least the dog, whoever he is, and I know.

Where was I?

There we were, the two of us, on the grass at the Steinmart center (remember now?) and he was genuinely sad and so was I.

I happened to look over at the dogs who had been nosing and sniffing and saw his collie getting up on Bookers backside. The collie is off leash.

I have never ever had this happen to my dog. Here it is. Now what?

No worry. Booker growled and gave the collie a very mean look, the collie got it and retired from the mount and they were buddies again.

The guy laughed and so did I. The collie, who incidentally is named Boomer, one letter away from Booker, does this a lot. He is not docked. He gives up fairly quickly in most cases I am told. I didn't want to hear about the other cases.

I liked this interaction a lot. The adults kept their cool, Man stuff, eh?

The dogs kept their cool. Just a misunderstanding. Sorry. OK.

Booker didn't even seem nostalgic or envious. Remember. He just got his testicles removed 5-6 weeks ago. Perhaps, in his time, he has done the same here and there.

I like the no-fault aspect of it.

A lot of dog owners have to figure out whose fault it is if two dogs don't get along.

While we are on the mounting issue, if it is an issue, it is amusing to note that another neighbor, an old dithering fart, has a dog that is nasty to Booker. He says that Booker tried to mount his dog.

I see this as wish fulfillment fantasy on the fart's part and a bit of transference. I never saw a single move that Booker made toward his dog's ass beyond the sniff.

Mostly it is about the fart needing to find fault and point a finger.

Not to make a federal case out of it but after the accusation his dog did another snarl, bared teeth, at Booker and on Sunday we had a repeat performance as the dogs come towards each other.

A family conference had already established that we ain't going to play with this dog ever again, so I said, "We aren't getting together". The dithering fart was all indignant about having his dog snubbed.

Such is life in the doggy neighborhood. The thing is that the people get as involved in it as the dogs and there you go. Skirmishes on the social scene.

These are the days that I am glad to be an introvert. No social entanglements deep enough for drama and if there is some I don't give a fuck. It is one sided. I don't play.

We are pretty well convinced Booker is the same. He is fine to say hello, even sweetly, then, off to the walk and no chitter chatting between the humans please and if it has to be endured it will be suffered at the end of the leash looking in the opposite direction.

Boy do I know that position. My favorite.

I want one more thing out of all this writing. Recognition for not once using the phrase "doggy style" in this post.

Labels: Booker, Franklin