Sparky

Sparky

“Be brave when others are afraid, and afraid when others are brave.”

Warren Buffett

Let me set the stage a bit. My business is nearly all on the phone, and I talk with many of the same people throughout the week. They know that, if we talk in the morning, I will likely be out on a walk. 

I usually do laps around our neighborhood or on nearby trails, and I often add some side streets to gain a few more steps.

I’m usually just talking on the phone, picking my route randomly. On one of the side streets, there is always a dark-colored pickup truck, parked in the same spot. Remember that point.

Nearly hidden, just past the truck on the passenger side, is a white picket fence, which you can’t see until you are right on top of it.

I pass this fence several days a week, and about ten percent of the time when I walk past it, there’s an immediate, deafening explosion that about yanks me out of my skin. 

It emanates from a white, fluffy dog, with his paws hanging over the fence, quietly waiting for someone to come along so he can give a single, gigantically loud bark, that scares the hell out of you, and that’s it.

It’s quiet again.

I imagine he repeats this game endlessly, as he waits like a spider for his next victim. And here’s the kicker: he’s not there most of the time, so I forget about him. 

This dog isn’t protecting his property; he has found a game he likes and is entertaining himself with the result. If he were guarding his property, he would keep on barking, but no; he settles back in, folding his paws across the bottom rung of the fence, and waits.

I’ll tell you, the dog owes a lot to that pickup truck, hiding him from sight, and to me, as I never seem to remember he is there.

Am I unwittingly making one of God’s little creatures just a bit happier?

Well, I guess we all need to do our part. 

-Hank

I was inspired by a friend to work while walking, and that inspiration has been catching, as many people I talk with are now working while walking too. If you’d like to read about how it all started, click here.