Third Base

Barley, a dog, stands on the wedge of sidewalk at an intersection corner, from which no sidewalk extends in either direction.

Given that Barley’s enthusiasm exceeds her stamina, it’s quite common at the end of a long walk for her pace to slow to a crawl, one foot in front of the other, effortfully slow-and-steady. Naturally, if she seems too tired, my inclination is to let her rest a moment before proceeding, but I often find myself walking in neighborhoods without proper sidewalks. These are the sorts of low-traffic residential side-streets where people on foot are at no meaningful risk, but I’d rather not get yelled at for sitting on someone’s lawn and would rather not sit on a curb in a way might make us harder to spot by a car. So usually, we end up taking a breather on these ‘sidewalk islands’ that appear at many intersections. That way, Barley can take a breather until she seems a little less wiped before rounding that final base and heading Home.