early or late

golden_up-close4, originally uploaded by phaird.

There seems to be two groups of people who come to the park every Sunday. There is the early group and the late comers. Now keep in mind, this gathering every Sunday is a word of mouth event. There is no structure or guideline. "Sunday at 10am" is a very loose event. The only thing holding it together are the people who decide to show up.

When I first started coming to the park, I was often coming late. I wanted to be around the busy group of dogs and meet all the different breeds and people. Since Toby has been skittish, I've decided that earlier is better. Get Toby running around and tired so he can be more relaxed when the park starts to get busy.

As I've been coming to the park, it is always a treat to see the regulars, and the new comers. Some are mostly around in the summers, others I normally see in the winter. I have noticed a shift though in the past few months. Some people I normally see, I have been missing. Others have changed their pattern so come later, while I've changed and have started to come earlier.

I feel it's much like dogs. We can be excited to see our park friends and when they don't show up, we have to accept that and they aren't their and hope to see them next time.

To my friends at the park, both 2 and 4 legged, I always look forward to seeing you.