Wednesday, September 23, 2009

(wo)man's best friend




I'm not sure if this a southern hemisphere thing or just South African, but apparently someone (I have no idea who) decided in recent years to officially move the First of Spring from 1 Sept to 21 Sept, 'cos the weather's always so crap on 1 Sept that it was getting embarrassing ... (oh wait, I bet it was the Tourism Bureau who decided on the change, that'd totally be their style).

Anyhoo, after today I really can see why.

Still, warm, balmy, and at 7pm I took the dog for a walk in the gathering dark wearing Short Sleeves.

And here's where it's kinda nice to have a dog which looks really mean. 7pm. Gathering dark. Walking. Sadly not things a woman would usually do in my neck of the woods without a mean looking dog. And I wasn't alone.
I passed a number of women walking big dogs. Our eyes met. We nodded. Our dogs strained on their leads to touch noses. We were walking through the streets of Obs after sundown and we felt safe.

Sad maybe, but liberating none-the-less.

5 comments:

Cwybrow said...

I don't have a dog like that. Sometimes, in my (safe-ish) suburban neighborhood, I wish I did.

rxBambi said...

I'm glad you're safe. So weird that you are just entering spring.
Actually I was thinking your dog has great teeth! No tarter at all. Good mommy!

kristine said...

I'm told it was google. but i'm with you. tourism board - i bet it was them.

MissBuckle said...

He doesn´t look mean to me. Cute though, and I wish I could give him a huge hug.

Even in safe Norway we have a huge rape-scare at the mo. They just jailed a taxi driver. Don´t like walking around after dark either...

Anonymous said...

i live in durban and also have a beautiful english bull terrier, rescued from a shelter. people see us walking together and say 'woah, a pit bull!' ha. gracie and i just laugh because what people don't know is that these dogs have the most advanced senses of humour of any breed i've encountered.