Month: April 2018

Who’s Scared of the Dark?

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As I do every morning, I walk my dog. On days that I have to work, I follow a usual path. We walk to the end of our subdivision and we hook a left onto the street. From there, we take another left at the intersection and follow a route that takes us to a pond. During the spring and summer months, we actually add a walk around the pond in addition to this standard path. These days, the sun is nowhere near up and so we don’t actually make it around the pond since it isn’t well lit. And as you know from my last post, I’m not lucky if there’s no lighting.

Back to the story…

On the way to the path, we pass by some condos. If we crossed the street, we would be on the backside of a shopping plaza. But I like to stay on the side we are on so I don’t have to cross the street and I don’t have to fear being hit. But today I had a different horror.

After the condominiums, there is a large swath of trees and green space. There is lighting every 50 feet and I’ve never felt the need to be afraid. Today, though, Remy was walking at her usual pace until about 100 feet into the green area. All of a sudden, she began walking into my leg. I chastised her and continued walking.

She did it again but this time she also looked up at me. It was like she was nudging me off the sidewalk. I walked another few feet and she continued to do the same thing.

Now I knew I needed to listen. I looked to the right and we crossed the street.

We continued on our merry way with no other interruptions. I’m not sure what was going on but I knew that I needed to get off of that sidewalk and away from those trees.

We hear plenty of stories about animals sensing danger. I had a black lab who really did sense danger and saved her new owners life. He was having a widow-maker heart attack. His wife called 911 and my puppy starting pounding on his chest. They say that if he hadn’t done that, the man would’ve died. I’m proud of that dog but he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. I prefer to think that he was jumping on his chest saying, “Play with me! Play with me!” Either way, after I heard that story, I knew that dogs are amazing animals.

I didn’t think that Remy was that smart of a dog. And maybe she’s not. But today, I listened to her and because of that we still here.

That’s probably not true but I like to think that she saved my life this morning. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it!

Walking In The Dark

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So, this morning I was out walking my dog, as usual. I leave my house at O Dark Thirty so when I get ready, I take the necessary precautions: I bundle up, I put my dog on her lead, and I wear a reflective belt. Or I should say, “I usually wear a reflective belt.” I skipped this step today. I thought I would be fine since I walk on the sidewalks and it is well lit since I stay on the main roads.

Big mistake!

We began our walk and everything was just ducky. Remy, my dog, was listening and not pulling too much. We make it about half way through the walk when we encountered our second crosswalk. I pressed the button and waited for the signal to cross. The “ampelmann” (German name for the crosswalk man) turned green and we proceeded to cross the street. A car comes whipping around the turn and almost hits us!

In my most lady-like words, I told him where he could go.

Undeterred, we continued on our walk. I don’t know if I was really undeterred or we had no choice but to keep going.

I pulled Remy closer and we kept walking. I’m talking to myself and wondering why people are idiots. There were street lights where I was as well as the crosswalk. I mean, what are people doing! I know it’s super early in the morning and maybe they haven’t had their coffee yet but driving is serious business. Isn’t that what is drilled into us?

As I’m musing to myself, we come to the last crosswalk before we get home. At this four way intersection the lights are bright so I’m assuming no issues. I press the button and wait for our signal. Now, I should tell you that waiting for a crosswalk signal isn’t easy for me. I went to school in Boston and NO ONE waits for the signal. But wait I did. It turned green and I had to pull Remy away from the lovely scent she found so we could get home. As we entered the crosswalk, a car comes around the bend and almost hits us!

AGAIN?

Yes, once again, we almost get hit. This time the person wasn’t turning left, she was turning right. Both times these people had either a red light or a solid green. This time the woman yelled at me as if it were my fault! What happened to pedestrians having the right of way? Apparently it’s not a thing anymore.

In the military, they are taught to trust their equipment. I should’ve taken that lesson to heart and wore my belt. That may have been the only equipment drivers understand. Forget a crosswalk signal. That is just background noise.