Peculiarities in the park

For the first time in about a month, I was able to take my dogs for a 5K walk.  We all needed it.  And as usual there was a nut or two loose on the running path, and I do not refer to the acorns blown down by last night's violent thunderstorm.

A young woman with a Blue Heeler was coming toward me as I neared the end of my walk, with maybe less than a kilometer and a half to go.  Blue Heelers are often difficult to train unless you are my brother.  Since the young lady obviously was not he, she was having a little bit of a hard time.  When she saw us approach, she made her dog sit.  The dog was not happy with this turn of events, but it did as it was told.

Behind the girl came an old guy toddling along as best he could.  Seeing that the girl was struggling with the dog, he suddenly screamed for all to hear, "Kill it!!  Kill it!! They aren't any use to anybody and all they do is make a mess in the park!!!"

By this time I had passed them both and did not observe the girl's reaction, but I felt myself included in the old fart's opinion because I was certainly within his shouting range.  And he for sure was not referring to the Blue Heeler breed but to dogs in general.

A number of come-backs occurred to me as I went on, but it seems the real problem is that this miserable old fool doesn't have a cause in life better than getting angry at dog owners, and it is really a shame to get to old age so embittered and angry.  We are all going to get old, but to get there feeling unsatisfied, unloved, or immersed in a world we don't understand is a tragedy.  And don't ask me what the secret is, either, because I don't know.  All I can say is that people I've known who have stuck with a rotten marriage, or think their children are disappointments, or think no one appreciates them, are usually the cause of their own misery.

If you want to get psychoanalytic about it, that poor old guy was screaming about himself...

On a lighter note, although not for long if I eat them, I got all the ingredients for chilaquiles and intend to attempt my daughter-in-law´s spectacular recipe.  The tomatoes I will use are from my square foot garden.  The plant got so huge I had to remove it and make different plans for a new plant, but in the meantime I have tomatoes that actually have flavor!