The sun made one of her* rare appearances today (they tell me Pittsburgh is the fourth-cloudiest city in America), so it was time to take the basenjis out for a walk. Despite the sunshine, the temperature was only a few degrees above freezing, so we did not have one of our usual leisurely afternoon walks. Also contributing to the brevity of the walk was the rock salt scattered across the roads and sidewalks in the wake of a recent snowstorm; dogs find walking on rock salt painful.
Nevertheless, the dogs took their time, stopping to sniff at the roadside litter that is an omnipresent fact of life in McKees Rocks. Klea found a paper bag from Wendy's that had been discarded by a passing car on Churchill Street some time before, and was preparing to gorge herself on french fries before I pulled her away. I also had to pull her away from some discarded chicken bones on Fruit Way. Ever since Buffalo Wings have become a fast food staple in this country, discarded chicken bones have become the bane of every dog owner's existence. They're everywhere, and any time a dog gobbles one up, there's a risk of bone shards getting caught in its throat.
But despite its short duration, and despite the hazards we met along the way, it was good to get out into the sunshine with the dogs, a faint echo of better days.
*All Tolkien aficionados know that the sun is feminine, and the moon masculine.
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