Just a-walkin' the dog.

Everyone who walks his or her dog has favorite routes. In countries it might be a good country road; in cities maybe you look to avoid nasty blocks or veer toward the coffee place with window service. Here in suburbia, and in my general state of fitness, we have but two small preferences: 

1) Sidewalks if possible;

2) Ability to return home alive. 

With the dog park closed -- well, we think it is, because the main park is closed, although the dog park looks open, but anyway is probably full of Chinese Death Virus Zombies, or so my wife thinks -- I'm walking the dogs more that I had been a year ago.  Here are my well-drawn maps of our favorite paths around the neighborhood:

Rand McNally wishes they had a cartographer with my mad skillz, don't you think?

That last big triangle, as I've noted, was one I haven't done with either of the dogs since my back went bust last February. The hypotenuse (c) is a very steep climb; the (a) side is a sidewalk-free road with blind curves and not one I like to walk with a large dog except when very few people are driving around. Large dog Tralfaz and I used to walk it every Sunday morning when the weather was cool. Maybe we can try it again before it gets snowy.

I have a friend who lives on a cul-de-sac that is the end of a long road. Every morning walk with her dog has to at least begin with the same ol' sidewalk, and the dog is bored with it. It's not like she has time to drive the pup somewhere else and walk around before work; she's doing the best she can. Her only other choice would be to go running through her neighbors' backyards into the wooded areas, and she's a nice person and probably wouldn't do that. Or perhaps she just would hate to have her reputation ruined among her neighbors. 

Anyway, if we ever move, I hope it will be to a place where there are multiple trails outside the door for dog walking. Bored dogs without enough exercise can be real trouble while you're trying to work, even if you work from home as I do. Remind me to tell you about the dinette floor sometime.