6:50 am  Surveying the largely empty park. We got here too early, Sweet Baby L. None of your friends are here yet.  

6:52am (checks watch again)  

Watches Sweet Baby L as she races across the grass and throws herself onto the ground, writhing around on her back.  We should have brought a ball. 

6:58 am  A dog arrives at the park. Sweet Baby L looks up hopefully as it races past her. Are her feelings hurt? 

6:59am  Sweet Baby L trots off into the distance to use the bathroom. I follow quickly behind.  I hope I can find what she left behind before I step in it. 

7:06am More pups have arrived. Sweet Baby L is in the thick of it, tail wagging, chasing her friends. Oh good, she’s having fun. 

7:07am Boisterous barking from the pack. Are they still just playing? Or are things getting too tense? 

7:08am Sweet Baby L has fallen back from the group that is running. She sidles up to another dog owner and sits on her feet, looking for a pat. The other dog owner happily obliges. Does Sweet Baby L not see me? Does she think I don’t give her enough attention? 

7:10am  Sweet Baby L is using the cover of another dog owner as an opportunity to chomp on some woodchips. I tell her to come so she leaves them behind. What a good girl. 

7:12am  Loud barking and growling from the pack that is chasing each other. Sweet Baby L perks up and races to join them. I hope she’s OK. 

7:13am Sweet Baby L take an interest in another pup that has joined the group. The two of them chase each around in huge circles. Oh good, she’s getting a lot of exercise.

7:15am Sweet Baby L has given up on running again and wanders off toward a shady spot in the corner of the park. She seems happy enough wandering around on her own, sniffing the grass. It’s really nice to be able to take advantage of this open space.  

7:16am: Is she eating something? What does she have in her mouth?  

7:17am Inspecting the grass around her. Someone seems to have dumped a bunch of charcoal on the ground. I give Sweet Baby L the ‘out’ command and she spits a tiny bit back onto the ground but immediately goes back for more. Oh, no. She’s gotten into charcoal before and it makes her stomach upset. 

7:19am. Efforts to distract Sweet Baby L from the charcoal are unsuccessful.  OK.  Show’s over. Time to leave.

7:20am We leash up and head out.  Looking down at Sweet Baby L’s big smile as we head across the street toward home. I’m glad she had fun. And I hope she didn’t swallow too much charcoal…