Dogs

Remember yesterday's post "Drive By" post?

There's more to the story from that morning. After being "accosted" by the little old Chinese woman, Bear and I came to "The Rottweiler House" where two fearsome beasts live. Every time we walk by, the dogs are either fenced within their yard or strapped to leashes outside the house, barking like there's no tomorrow. 

Now, I don't fear dogs in the least. I've been around them my entire life. That doesn't mean I'm not careful and wary around them, however.

They could hear the tinkling of Bear's dog tags as we walked and they know his sound. From a couple doors down they usually begin to "Wolf! Wolf! Wolf!" with enthusiasm, running the length of the fenced yard or straining against their leads in an attempt to get at us when they know we're around.

This time, though, I heard nothing as we approached their house. In an interesting twist, one of the dogs came into view all of a sudden from up the driveway. It walked directly toward us, calmly. 

Bear made a beeline for it. He loves meeting "new friends" ... no matter who they are. I yanked on his lead, forcing him back and away from the Rottweiler. But it continued to approach, uncharacteristically calm and controlled. 

Then it looked at me. The dog's eyes pierced mine with a strange, metallic stare. And that's when I noticed it.

It's laser stare was lifeless and unmoving. The dog was blind. It didn't look at me but in my direction, from the sounds Bear and I were making. That's why it was approaching slowly.

I let Bear gently inch closer. In a few moments his nose nudge the dog in greeting.

That's when the Rottweiler snapped in surprise. I yanked Bear back before it could get a junk of my dog and I put my hand out and on the beast's shoulders. He was startled by Bear's contact, that was all. I had to control Bear's enthusiasm while watching the Rottweiler to make certain the 100 pound plus monster wasn't alarmed further. 

Then, just like that, it turned tail and walked off with a strange, uneven gait. It was partially crippled, I noticed, possibly because of arthritis or some other ailment. I watched as it hobbled back up the driveway, at ease with the smells and familiarity of its surroundings. 

Those big, ferocious Rottweilers who continually barked at us in their yard weren't so daunting after all.

At least the blind one wasn't.

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP. )

"Dive! Dive! Dive!"

Real Life Adventures In Construction - Karl Can't Catch

Now ... Karl did mention at one point his depth perception had been compromised from his injury.

But that didn't stop me from forgetting that fact.

We'd worked together for several days. He's a regular guy. The difference is he's simply got a single eye is all. But you wouldn't know otherwise.

Calling it a day one afternoon, we packed up our stuff and readied to head out. Karl came over the hump of the insanely steep driveway and called down to me below if I saw some copper fittings. I said I'd seen them.

"Mind tossing them up to me?" he asked.

I got all three of them and asked if he was ready to catch them.

Now, I used to play ball. Still do. Just not on a regular basis. And I'm a good aim. Winging the fittings to Karl wasn't any kind of challenge. At least ... not for me.

For Karl, however ...

I flung the first one in for a strike ... which Karl promptly dropped directly in front of him. The next one whizzed in a bit to his right but he managed to get a hand on it. Still, he dropped it. The third? Another strike ... which he couldn't get purchase of and fell to his feet.

That's when I remembered his deficit. He was pretty much blind as a bat when it came to catching anything thrown at him.

"Shit! I'm sorry Karl! I completely forgot you can't see ... !!!"

"That's all right ... pick on the disabled dude. No worries ..."

"Hey, you were the one who told me to throw them to you ..."

We both laughed out loud.

Screw political correctness. It was a good moment ...

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP with the curve ball already )