Pages

17 August, 2008

It's A Wonderful Day In The Neighborhood

Thanks and a tip of the ball cap to Fred Rogers, cause it was a wonderful day in the neighborhood. I sacked in till almost 5:30 AM this morning, an unusual occurrence.

After a second cup of coffee the girls, Cindy and Secret began hovering around the front door, trying to tell me it was time for their walk. Dianna went out on the porch to welcome the sun and that's when they really begin to get excited.

About 6:00 AM, I get out onto the porch and have to spend a few minutes getting Secret to sit and calm down, to that calm, submissive state as Cesar Milan says. Once I get her there, then I leash them both up and we headed out toward the gate, making sure that as we went down the stairs, that I was in the lead as the pack leader.

When we got to the gate, we have a similar ritual for that. They both have to sit, then I open the gate just wide enough for one person to go through. Guess who gets to go through first? Riight, it's me. I'm the pack leader. Then, they have to sit again and wait while I get the leashes adjusted just so. Then we're ready to take off.

Today the walk began with us heading into town, taking the road up by Tony's Inn. As we went along there, there's about 5 or 6 really big Rottweilers and Labradors that live there. Of course they all have to come out to see who the interlopers are. Once upon a time, this would have been a terrifying experience. But after having read both of Cesar's books on dog behavior and problem solving, and watching many episodes of his show, the Dog Whisperer, and having put into practice the things he recommends, it's no biggie.

This morning, it was a little different however. At the dentist's house on the corner live two medium sized brown dogs, they always bark at us. Just beyond them is where the Rotties and Labs live. They came bounding down to see who we were. There was also a large black Lab female who I hadn't seen before in their pack and she was obviously the leader. Right away she went over to the fence barking at the dentist's dogs. I'm sure if the fence hadn't been there, both of them would have been dead, she was that ferocious.

When they retreated, she turned toward us. I thought, "Oh boy. We're in for it now." But Cesar always says not to let them know you're afraid, so I continued to be the leader of my pack, controlling Cindy and Secret, which mean't keeping them from making direct eye contact with her and still walking where we wanted to go.

We stopped once for some "howdy-do" introductory sniffing and then we continued on our way. Surprisingly, the big Lab fell in with my crew as if she was part of my pack. I could tell that, because just like my dogs, she was walking slightly behind me. Interestingly, as soon as she fell in, the other members of her pack quit barking right away. We kept on our way, and as we passed their property line, they all fell off and we kept on our walk.

We turned the corner at Tony's Inn onto the highway into town and walked along the seawall, each of us taking turns walking on the wall itself. Neither Cindy or Secret really like that. The water makes too much noise and it seems like a long way down from the top of the wall.

As we turned onto First Avenue, continuing along the water front, we passed a small cove with a little boat at anchor. I stopped the dogs and snapped the picture. Here it is.
Corozal Waterfront Anchorage
Off in the distance you can see the houses and hotels along Almond Drive and Bay Shore Drive.

We continued into town until we turned around at St. Paul's By the Sea Anglican Church. We headed back out of town, continuing past Tony's Inn on the highway and turning in at the next road (I don't know its name). It took us back to Ferry Road and we continued walking down it to Mr. Quinto's place. He's the retired Belizean Ambassador to Taiwan. We turned around and headed back up Ferry Road to our place.

Just before we got to our place, on the left is a door that stands overgrown in the bush. That's it... just a door. So naturally, I stopped and took a picture of it. Actually, I've been meaning to do that for some time now, and finally remembered to stop. Here's the result.
The Door Into Paradise
I'm calling it The Door Into Paradise. Of course, the catch 22 with this is, that you already have to be here in paradise to be able to go through it. Just a little paradox for you on this wonderful Sunday morning in the neighborhood.

3 comments:

toupeeo said...

Good Morning from Pueblo. Sleeping in were you! Shame. Imagine. Nice walk with the dogs. How far did you go? And? Where does the door to nowhere go?

Ran here in abundance. Great! Enjoy the weekend.

Anonymous said...

I dig the door!!
I usually enlarge you pics for a closer look, but the two you posted today seemed a bit blurry....? And I DO have my glasses on!
S

Dave Rider said...

Answering toupeeo first:

We went about three miles. Where does the door go? Why paradise, of course. It's just a door there. I think there used to be a house connected to it, once upon a time, but now, all that's left is the door - into paradise.
Enjoy your rain. I'm putting up bottom screens on the porch and sweating up a storm. Only 95 degrees, and probably the same for the humidity.

Now Sandy a.: I took both shots with my phone camera and cropped/enlarged both. It's ok for quickie shots but not much else. I do plan on taking more of the door with a good camera - as soon as I find the time.