Walk the Dog

The other day I went to the beach. I was called to a rig, but when I arrived I was told they didn’t need me to be there for another two days, at least. So I went to Galveston Island. I walked on the beach and watched surfers and picked up bits of shells.

It was a lovely day.

Today’s Exploit:

While at the beach I saw many, many people run by. The sidewalk and the street are about 15.8 feet above the beach level, so I mostly saw them while driving and sitting in my car.

I’d found a nice place to park and sat on the passenger side of the car to change my shoes. I was admiring the area and watching people when I noticed one particular jogger. He was an older man. He wore ordinary clothes and was not particularly distinctive except for the fact that he looked a bit lop-sided.

I watched for a few seconds trying to discern the reason for the unbalance. At first I thought it was some sort of pack on his back, and that he was on a VERY long run. But the pack was lumpy and mostly over one shoulder, so I didn’t quite believe that scenario.

Finally he got close enough for me to see his “pack”.

He’d placed his dog…HIS DOG…over his shoulder. It bouncing around and hanging on for dear life. And it watched me as the guy ran by. I tried hard not to stare too hard, because I’m pretty sure the dog was begging me to take it for a normal walk, at least until the run was over.

And I was too slow with my camera to get a picture. I saw they guy again, on his way back. The dog was over his other shoulder watching the world go by. I took a video with my phone, but it was too pixilated to see any definition.  Here is a photo to show you a bit of the indignity that the dog suffered.

Picture from here.