Tonight,

I took my dogs for a bike ride.  Dogs.  Plural.  Previous to this weekend, I'd never done that before--taken both.  And it was interesting, yet not horrible. 

On bike rides, they both run alongside my bike.  I usually have one on each side, so I pretty much block the entire road.  Except I try to be conscientious... I swear I'm not self-absorbed enough to think everyone should yield to me.  Then I figured out how to get them to be good with both on one side, so that was great.

Anyway, as I was watching Bert bop around, getting kind of slow yet still SO MIRACULOUSLY bouncy, I thought:  if he were a girl dog, I'd have named him Stephanie.  He just SEEMS like a Stephanie. (And the fact that the thought just popped into my head was really funny at the moment.  It felt so natural!  But funny all the same!)

I also took them both to the fairgrounds and tossed around a tennis ball while they chased each other.  I had this completely surreal moment of absolute joy:  that was exactly where I'd want to be, given the choice of anywhere in the world, in that moment.  Spending time with my dogs, chucking a ball, the golden sun shining heavy shadows on the lawn the trees.  It was perfect.  But then I felt sorry, because I also thought of all the other things I could/should be doing, and realized how much I need to calm down and let myself be in the present.  It's a work in progress, that's for sure. 

About a block before home, we passed the dog park, and Bert stops to a near-crawl every time.  So I picked him up, and he yelped like I was stabbing him to death--he had shots yesterday, and I must have hurt him in the spot where they poked him.  So I put him down and we kept going.  But THEN he was really just too slow, so I picked him up (carefully), put him in my basket, strapped him down (oh yeah, did I ever tell you about the time he was strapped down in a complicated leash hold in the basket and he STILL JUMPED OUT?  WHILE I WAS MOVING? AND HE DANGLED FROM THE SIDE OF MY BASKET?), so I strapped him down REAL good and finished the ride with Bagsy sprinting beside me.

All this after a guy who saw me with them said, "Looks like you're having fun."  And then as I was turning the corner, "That's the funniest thing I've EVER seen." And he laughed and laughed and laughed.

So, I guess it's kinda funny that I take them both on rides.  But until I find a better way to wear them both out real good, this is my method.