Guest Blogger - The Dog

Often times I cannot help but wonder: what is wrong with all of these people?

There are so many things, I tend to lose track of them. Why don't they share what they have, like food? Why don't they devote more time to relationships, like me? Why are they always on the move?

Oddly enough, it's this last concern that is somewhat stifling me at the moment. I had to take the guy for a walk today, like I tend to have to, and I simply cannot understand why he feels the need to be so slow. It's a beautiful December day, there's a light slow falling, and you want to move slow? No, no, no, this is not a time to move slow. This is a time to move fast! Why shouldn't you be frolicking in the snow, or dashing after a squirrel, or doing any of these things? Everyone seems to think life in the fast lane is such a bad idea. I would disagree. Life in the fast lane, often times, is quite a good idea.

I wonder why I have these views? Maybe it's because most of my day is spent in a slow lane. I sleep all night, wake up to go outside, eat, and then spend most of the day lazing about. Sure, I do things to break up the monotony of the day, important things. For instance, I look out the window. I look out at everything that is mine, and I usually think how how happy I am to have it. Sometimes, I chew on a piece of rawhide. And if I'm feeling extremely ambiguous, I will sniff around the kitchen for food. As important as these activities are though, they can hardly be thought to be "fast."

Maybe it's the fact that I'm getting to be an old man. While the humans surrounding me age at a seemingly glacial pace, time keeps up with me. As personally hard as it has been to realize, longetivity (at least in human years), is not something I will be blessed with. In fact, sometimes I wonder how much longer I'll be able to run and jump the way I do, or bound up and down these stairs. I think about it sometimes, but it's dawned on me that these are not things to dwell about.

The way I see it, the world is composed of many wonderful things. Some of these things, I don't enjoy. For instance, I don't enjoy being sprayed with a hose, I don't enjoy being treated impolitely by other dogs, I especially don't like being talked to like a baby. After all, I'm getting old; I should be respected. But for the most part, there are so many things to be wondrous about. How can you not be wondrous of a gorgeous day, or time spent with special people? In these situations, it just doesn't seem useful to always be moving in half-speed. If I spent my entire life in half speed, I definitely would not have survived that jump off of the slide. No, life is something that should rather be enjoyed to the fullest. And sometimes, that means going faster than you think you should.

As in all things, there is a time to be cautious. Hell, even I have to be a little cautious on the back steps nowadays. But after a while, caution gives way to complacency. If there's something you really want, at the end, you have to make an effort to get it, which may be uncomfortable. You think I like tearing around like a jackass, just to get someone to go walking with me? Of course not, it can be equal parts embarrassing and terrifying. After all, I'm getting old. But it works.

There are few really important things in my life. I enjoy eating, walking, and being with my family. Pretty much all of these are communal activities. I do what I can to get these things, and I hope they work out. So I don't see what the big fuss about the fast lane is about.