Lost and found
We seem to be making up for lost time with the weather. The last few days it has been hard to believe that only a week or so ago we were complaining about the oddly warm temperatures. The nighttime lows have been running somewhere around -10 C (12 F) with daytime temps reaching a high of 0 C (32 F).
As you can imagine, dog walking is much less enjoyable in the early morning hours. Still, Attila the Shmoo and his minion Maggie the Good need to go out for potty breaks and exercise no matter what. I've been taking them on my own, because JM really doesn't deal well with the cold and it's easier to go alone than to worry about him as well as the dogs.
I do not like having cold hands. However, when I'm trying to get a tissue out of my pocket or give a treat to the dogs to reward them for something or try to keep them from going nuts when they see another dog (pack-like behavior that I'm trying to control), I find that gloves can get in the way. Yesterday, I just wound up putting my gloves in my pockets and suffered on.
But, we had several incidents of the Mongol Horde barking, jumping, pulling and going generally nuts. Unbeknownst to me, my gloves fell out of my pocket and I just walked on. After a few minutes, a fellow walker hailed me and handed me a glove. I did not realize that its mate was also gone, so I thanked her and went home. Of course, there I noticed that I was now the sad owner of a singleton. It was cold and I was tired, so I decided to heck with it and didn't go back to look for the missing glove.
Last night, I went on a different route, so still no glove as of this morning. However, I did take my usual road on our first walk of the day. As I got to about the halfway point, I noticed a purple object (mostly covered in frost I might add) waving at me from a bush. Some kindly soul had clearly found the escaped glove and rather than just leaving it in the path or taking it, they had put it where it could be more easily seen in case the owner returned. I was really struck by this. I imagined what would have happened in similar circumstances in Los Angeles. Certainly not that. Most likely the object would have been ignored at best, taken at worst.
I'm not saying this is a France vs. America difference. Most likely is a rural vs. city difference. The person who found it assumed (correctly) that whoever had lost the glove would eventually take the same path, and thought that they would make it easier for them to find it. I think that speaks volumes about the people of our village. I'm sure if the person had known to whom the glove belonged, they would have brought it to the house; in lieu of that, they at least made sure it would be found.
It's another reason that I'm happy to be living in a place where neighbors think of each other and do their small bit to be accommodating and helpful.
Ciao for now.
Randy
As you can imagine, dog walking is much less enjoyable in the early morning hours. Still, Attila the Shmoo and his minion Maggie the Good need to go out for potty breaks and exercise no matter what. I've been taking them on my own, because JM really doesn't deal well with the cold and it's easier to go alone than to worry about him as well as the dogs.
I do not like having cold hands. However, when I'm trying to get a tissue out of my pocket or give a treat to the dogs to reward them for something or try to keep them from going nuts when they see another dog (pack-like behavior that I'm trying to control), I find that gloves can get in the way. Yesterday, I just wound up putting my gloves in my pockets and suffered on.
But, we had several incidents of the Mongol Horde barking, jumping, pulling and going generally nuts. Unbeknownst to me, my gloves fell out of my pocket and I just walked on. After a few minutes, a fellow walker hailed me and handed me a glove. I did not realize that its mate was also gone, so I thanked her and went home. Of course, there I noticed that I was now the sad owner of a singleton. It was cold and I was tired, so I decided to heck with it and didn't go back to look for the missing glove.
Last night, I went on a different route, so still no glove as of this morning. However, I did take my usual road on our first walk of the day. As I got to about the halfway point, I noticed a purple object (mostly covered in frost I might add) waving at me from a bush. Some kindly soul had clearly found the escaped glove and rather than just leaving it in the path or taking it, they had put it where it could be more easily seen in case the owner returned. I was really struck by this. I imagined what would have happened in similar circumstances in Los Angeles. Certainly not that. Most likely the object would have been ignored at best, taken at worst.
I'm not saying this is a France vs. America difference. Most likely is a rural vs. city difference. The person who found it assumed (correctly) that whoever had lost the glove would eventually take the same path, and thought that they would make it easier for them to find it. I think that speaks volumes about the people of our village. I'm sure if the person had known to whom the glove belonged, they would have brought it to the house; in lieu of that, they at least made sure it would be found.
It's another reason that I'm happy to be living in a place where neighbors think of each other and do their small bit to be accommodating and helpful.
Ciao for now.
Randy
Labels: neigbors, rural vs. city life
2 Comments:
Now, Randy, you have become too cynical. Maybe in Reseda people are like that, but in Woodland Hills--at least our niche of it--people are still pretty nice. When someone finds a toy near the curb, they put it on top of the nearest mailbox,with the hopes that the person who dropped it will spot it. I'm sure they'd do the same with a glove. And when it's an item that people recognize, they bring it all the way to the front door. We've had people return a frisbee that dropped out of Terry's back pocket at the park bring it to our house, because they knew that Charlie played with frisbees like that. And one day a neighborhood kid, seeing Charlie sitting in front of someone else's house, brought him back to our place and put him in our yard. Of course, he didn't know that Terry was actually inside that other person's house, and Charlie was patiently waiting for him! Anyway, chivalry is not dead in the U.S., especially when it comes to dogs, who seem to occupy tender spots in neighborhood hearts worldwide.
love,
Paula
By paula, At 10:15 PM
I don't think it's that people aren't nice, Paula, as much as that they get wrapped up in their own lives and don't always think about others. Clearly, your neighborhood has people who are a bit more concerned, which is good.
R
By Randy, At 11:29 AM
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