A Man Out Walking His Dog

I have been playing around with what to do with the phrase, "A Man Out Walking His Dog," for some time now. Originally, I was going to write about the things I thought about and realized while I was out walking my Yorkie, Spike, late at night, when the world is still and I can hear myself think.

By necessity, I was up very early this morning to take Spike out. I got a different take on what the title of this posting may also mean. I have been really busy since I returned from Florida about mid December of 2006. A lot has been going on in my life.

With the company I worked for closing down, I have had to figure out what I will do next, to earn a living.

The Holiday Season has been full of shopping and more shopping... of gift-buying and gift-giving... of extending well wishes to our friends and family... of going to parties... of preparing myself for a new year, a new opportunity to get my life back on course or to make a mid-course correction in my life... a time of making things right with people I have wronged... a time when I can momentarily focus on the possibility of peace on Earth, goodwill to men [and women and children and maybe animals.]

And for me, this is a year of saying goodbye to my daughter, Heather, and her husband, Ben, who will leaving for London in a couple of days. They will be moving there for 3 years while they earn their Doctorates. Marilyn and I have been helping them as we can to pack up and move.
It is a time of a little sadness and also a time of great pride for us that they have come as far as they have and that they show great promise of doing even more with their lives.

And of course, while all these other things were going on, we still had the normal stuff to do. Marilyn had to go to work each week. Food had to be cooked and the dishes washed. The trash had to be taken out and the house cleaned. And, of course, I still had to take Spike out for his walks several times a day. Even during the holiday season, life goes on.

So being a man out walking his dog, also means that doing that is part of my routine and something Spike expects me to be doing. Spike has a lot of common sense and he would go out on his own, if I were to let him. But as things are, I have to be there with him. I love the little fellow and that is my responsibility. It is equally my responsibility to go to work and pay the bills and occasionally cook dinner and take out the trash.... I am sure that you see where I am going with this. Walking the dog is part of my routine and my reality. As a man out walking his dog, I am just a person who is just living his life, doing what needs to be done for that day. Necessary, if not terribly exciting stuff.

It is the routines I establish for myself that is at the heart of what I am talking about. Without a routine, my life can become unglued. My routine gives me a sense of context. I have a sense of where I am in any given day and in the course of the week. My routine defines me in my own mind. I have a surer sense of what role I play in my family and in my community. The truth is that most of the things on my calendar are pretty mundane activities, but no less important than the "Really Important" items.

I am a man out walking my dog. I am a man living my life, as productively as I can, from day to day, from week to week and from year to year. If I can continue to do that with a reasonable degree of success, until the day I leave the scene, that will work for me. For now, I am content to remain a man out walking his dog.