Nice's morning adventure.

During our morning walk we turned from the road to a small wooded area bordered by a pond. Nice (the dog) led the way. First he kept with a clear pathway cut though the scrub trees left behind when the undeveloped land had been logged. Soon we were following animal trails around and through brush and vines. It felt good to get some distance from the loud highway, the trees buffered the roar and filtered the fumes. Nice (the dog) got to do what dogs do and flushed out a rabbit a few yards from the pond. I had to call him to attention, making him sit with two tugs of the leash and my special voice command, "Sit." We walked along the edge of the pond, then across a rugged field of weeds. There were large scallops in the ground left by the roots of large trees. He pranced as we zig-zagged through the tall grass. He stopped, so happy with where he was, rolled on his back and flopped around like a fish out of water. Then stopped and laid in the sun for a few moments before jumping to his feet. We weaved our way behind the few businesses at the edge of the woods and came out at the edge of the neighborhood that borders the far side of the large pond. Not finished walking, Nice (the dog) led us around the neighborhood to the last house on the left. The one with the lush thick grass, sweet smelling flowers and shade trees. There he laid down and waited for George, the owner of the corner property, who is usually outside. We stayed a few minutes to cool off but when I called for Nice to leave he turned his head to the house attentively. I watched Nice follow the sound of George's footsteps as he walked through his house to the front door. Just before the door opened Nice got to his feet and began to wag his tail to greet the old man. George smiled as Nice cooed his soft "hello!" Only then would Nice be led away. When we returned to the plaza he found, to his great joy, the girls had come to work. The rest of the day Nice was happier than I had seen him in months.