A Flight of Fancy.

You know it is summer when you are not the first one to notice, when even your dog notices, and everyone in the city notices, so that on a sunny afternoon during the happy hour the conversation on everyone's lips is all the same, about how beautiful the weather is, and how summer is really coming to Seattle, and if you leaned to your left and jumped in on the conversation of the strangers next to you, you would know exactly what to say: "THIS is why we live here."

Titan and I are taking longer and more leisurely walks these days, partly because it's so gorgeous and partly because we don't want to work up a sweat. We stroll up and down Broadway, taking in the scene. Today especially was one of those days when I couldn't stop smiling, because it was so gorgeous, and everyone on the Hill seemed to agree with me. There were tons of dogs out, of course, and Cal Andersen Park was PACKED. There wasn't a spare bench or patch of grass to be seen in practically the whole park. Titan and I passed by an older gay couple with their dogs, Yorkies with matching bows (in different colors) and while I generally have a low opinion of the intelligence of small dogs, I have to say that these Yorkies were wonderfully well-behaved and had a distinct lack of neuroses. The men and their dogs were walking slower than Titan and I were, and the men pulled over, for lack of a better word, and their Yorkies stood patiently while my long-legged German Shepherd trotted by. I was impressed, and so was Titan.

We circled the fountain and I saw these words scrawled in chalk on the wall: HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN, making me laugh. The day was so pretty that I even SMILED at some COPS, although generally my relationship with law enforcement can be described as antagonistic, and the cops scratched Titan's ears as he sniffed at their bicycle wheels. Rounding the final corner by Volunteer Park, on the way home, I looked up at a window decal reading, "He's not MY president" and was startled to see a big gray cat watching me intently. A pink tea rose bush shone on my right side as I was passed energetically by a young woman, carrying a pink cello case on her back, and I was strongly reminded of the poor knights who have to paint the white roses red in Alice and Wonderland, and therefore knocked sideways when the young woman looked at her watch and said, into her phone, "I'm so late!" I wanted to say, "Oh, my paws and whiskers!"--but assumed she would think I was just talking to my dog, who does, yes, have paws. And whiskers.