Dogs, roadsides, and flowers

Her latest find
London, ON
June 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I’m learning to pay closer attention when I walk the dog.

Like yesterday morning, when she happened upon a small patch of pink wildflowers growing just beside the curb and decided to thoroughly investigate them with her super-schnauzer-nose.

Once upon a time, I would have idly let her do her thing. I might have checked the weather on my phone. Or my inbox. And then I would have gently tugged her leash so we could get back on our way.

Back then, I watched the clock more than I watched her. Walks competed for time on the same sliver of a clock face as everything else. And all those slivers added up. The upshot for a small pup who couldn’t tell time: We had to finish up and get home.

Then one day I gently tugged her leash during one of our many, many stops along the way. And she whimpered.

I'm not sure why she did, but I knew enough by her tone that she was not pleased. So I crouched down as she stared right back at me, and we lingered like that for a couple of minutes. We don't speak the same language, but I'm pretty sure she was telling me to stop rushing her.

I'm slowly getting better at letting go of the clock when we're out, which is challenging given her propensity to eat everything she finds. But along the way, I've learned to soak up the small moments we'd otherwise lose in the rush to finish up and get back home.

And as I watch her follow her nose through places I'd otherwise miss, I come across tiny little wonders. Like these pink flowers.

Turns out those slivers on the clock face are a little more forgiving than we once thought. Turns out it doesn't take all that much more out of the day to appreciate the journey a little more.

Sometimes it takes a puppy to show you the way.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #flower #rose #pink #nature #texture #plants #life #stilllife #urban #suburban #street #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything