Dog Walker

I am falling in love with my neighborhood. I make frequent jokes that it is "ghetto adjacent". Maybe it's the equivalent of falling for a bad boy with a heart of gold. All I know is that it's growing on me.

Across the street and two doors down, there are 2 little girls. One of them always starts yelling "Dog! Dog!" when she sees me leaving for a walk with Murphy. I gave in last week and walked down there to meet them. They were playing with another neighborhood girl, and they all loved on Murphy.

There are kids on bikes, which I really love to see, because it reminds me of when I was a kid. I used to know who everyone was, cause I rode my bike around everywhere. Now I'm one of the grown-ups they know. You know, the one with the little wiener dog? That's me!

There is a little alley beside the church that Murphy & I sometimes cut through to get to the church parking lot from the street. The alley isn't paved, it's more like a part of someones yard that no one has claimed. Dad calls it "Murphy's Alley" because he's peed there so many times.

There are the people that are always on their porch. The guy down the street who sits out in his porch swing wearing a wife beater even when it's cold. There is the dude two streets over in the cool brick house who I sometimes overhear on the phone dropping the F bomb. The house a few doors down is home to a Maltese-type dog who perches on the couch and barks at us from his living room window. (I consider him a porch dweller of sorts).

Ms. Perry lives a few doors down from me, and I see her oftentimes in the morning. She sits at a little table in her carport and smokes. I like to stop and talk to her because she makes me laugh. She uses fun phrases like "whatever blows yer britches up". She knew my mom, and went to the same church that we went to when I was a kid. She held me when I was a baby. It's cool to have some history with someone who just a few months ago was a stranger to me.

Ms. Perry has a lot of cats. Some are hers, and some she just feeds. My favorite (and hers) is a cat named Bits, an orange tabby. He loved Mojo (it was mutual, and very "West Side Story" of them) and he loves Murphy, too. Most days, Murphy just cannot be bothered with Bits because he's trying too hard to win over the other cats that hate him. Isn't that always the way?

Bits is so filled with love that he can barely walk. He goes a few feet, then he just has to fall over and writhe around, showing you his belly. Sometimes Bits goes on walks with us, which is difficult since he'll throw himself at my feet mid-step. There are areas of the neighborhood where Bits won't go (scary dogs!) and I've found myself avoiding those when he joins us on our walk, because I enjoy his company so much. I'm not the only one who's in love with Bits - Dad & Leslie are, too. It's hard not to be.

Claudette is the woman who lives across the street. She is a total hoot. She knows everyone in the neighborhood, and their pets. She's got a dog named J.D., who is part corgi. He's got a huge barrel body, little spindly legs, and the sweetest light brown eyes. She and J.D. walk the neighborhood every morning. If I'm lucky, I meet up with her while I'm walking Murphy.

If I'm remembering right, J.D. took up with Claudette & her husband about 4 years ago. They looked for his owners, but couldn't find them. Claudette said her husband tried to tell her that J.D. was part chihuahua, and she turned to him and said "No he's NOT!" (he isn't, y'all) and her husband said "Well then, what is he?" and she replied "Why, he's Just Dog, that's who he is!" That's what J.D. stands for. How can you NOT love a woman that names her dog that??

I'm so glad I got a dog so he could introduce me to my neighbors.

~