This morning the park was hidden behind a curtain of grey and white. A fog had drifted in from wherever fog drifts in from and blanketed everywhere. The world took on a magical, fairy quality. Given I don’t drive, I rather enjoy the fog.
I think it’s funny how fairy types spell it faerie. The original word was French and spelled faierie. Back in 1590, the word was re-introduced into English with the deliberately ‘olde worlde’ spelling (faerie) by Edmund Spenser. He wrote the epic poem Faerie Queene.
I didn’t see any fairies in Waitrose. Or fog for that matter.
By the time I had finished shopping and was on my way home, the fog had lifted and the sky was blue. In fact, it was so beautiful that the park was full of dog walkers. I’d venture to say, it was the most dog walkers I think I’ve ever seen at one time. It was most joyous.
At one point I sat on a handy bench and watched the cavorting canines.
I noticed Emma’s arch nemesis, the greyhound, appear at the top of the hill near Squirrel Tree. At about the same time, I spotted Elvis, another greyhound, start to race towards him. As Elvis approached, the unnamed greyhound turned and spotted him. They met in a great moment of doggie bonding.
The guy who walks Elvis and the guy who walks Emma’s arch nemesis tend to meet up every day for a walk across the park. They are sometimes joined by a woman who also has a greyhound. All three throw balls or frisbees and the dogs have a grand old time.
There’s something amazing about watching greyhounds run. Their easy gait as they speed across the ground is at once effortless and balletic. I must admit I sat there for a while, feeling like an elderly Italian man sitting outside a sunny shop in Alberobello.
Sometimes, life is so simple and lovely, you just want it to go on forever. The problems just fade away for that brief moment of bliss. You just want to stay; to remain; be part of the picture perfect peace for just a little longer. The good and simple life.
