Almanac

Ever since we adopted Sir Specialness, (who for blogging purposes I'll christen "Basil") I have walked him in the early morning before I go to work. Every couple of weeks Trey will take the morning walk, but 95% of the time I have been out the door with the dog at 6-ish a.m., rain, shine or snow. When we adopted Basil's sister Britta in October, the routine didn't change, but the sunrise certainly has. 6 a.m. in December is really damn different from 6 a.m. in July. Some mornings we would leave the house in that pre-dawn inkwash blue that I had always associated with desperately finishing a term paper, heading to the airport, or running out of blow. Now it's me and the dogs running across Meeker, Britta biting Basil's leash, singing the "crossing the street" song, which spontaneously emerged one day to the tune of Titannica's "Getting the Shaft Again":

Running across the street!
Running on all four fee-eeeeet
We're running! Running across the STREEEEEEEEEET!!

Some early mornings the park's black trees and indigo sky are out of a Kara Walker installation: this morning there was a full silvery moon and grey pink clouds. I keep hoping the sky will lighten earlier, but I also like the fact that the run is less crowded in the morning because of the cold. I love the dailiness of taking them out even though sometimes it makes me panicky, or they are stubborn [as in Sunday morning's adeventure: Pulling 120 Pounds of Excited Dogs Away From A Rat Carcass While Everyone Is Standing On A Fucking Sheet Of Ice! This year, spring will be the best spring ever, I'll get to watch its unfolding like Muybridge parsed the cantering horse.