Good citizen

Lucy and I were in the small park at the other end of the block today where we normally go on our big outings. They don't treat the sidewalks there when it snows, so there's always a good couple inches to play in, plus drifts up to 2 feet, and no salt to burn her paw pads. There were at least five other dogs this morning, and most if not all were off leash. It's not a dog park, though there's always a lot of dogs there, and people often let their dogs run loose even though it's technically prohibited. Now, I'm a rule follower by nature, and there's no way I'd ever let Lucy off-leash in downtown Chicago. She's more of a rule breaker, you see, and I'm not so sure either of us would live through the experience.

Just as we were leaving I saw a cop car pull up and everyone headed to grab their dogs. People can and have been fined for having their dogs off leash. Lucy, formerly cowed by the fact that she was the only one on leash, held her head up high as the only good citizen following the rules of the park. Good dog, Lucy.

Rant

Hey. Hey you. Yeah, you, the white guy on the cell phone (illegal, by the way, since you have to be hands-free in Chicago) in the big honking SUV coming north on Indiana around 6pm. See, a stop sign means stop. That means bringing your very large, gas-guzzling vehicle to a complete stop. And when you encounter someone (in this case a woman, but that should make no difference) in the middle of a pedestrian crosswalk -- with a stroller and a dog, no less -- in 20 degree weather with a foot of snow on the ground and more coming down -- and the whole clan is halfway through the crosswalk when you approach the aforementioned stop sign, you STOP, you big jerk. You don't roll through and assume that the woman with the stroller and the dog in the snow will stand in the middle of the intersection and wait for you to make your way.

What block?

I guess she just couldn't resist the squeaker. Fortunately, it's plastic and cleans and disinfects easily.