
Nigel gets to enjoy two parks daily – our town’s huge dog park and our neighborhood park. This photo is from our neighborhood park. Rob always takes shelled peanuts to toss to the squirrels, so Nigel spots them and rushes toward them. No talk of politics here. But plenty of squirrel talk.

At the town’s great dog park, we go in the middle of the day and right now, it’s hot. But we have a shaded spot with a breeze. The people who sit with us vary, but we discuss politics – trump’s deplorable antics, where this country seems to be headed, and oh, ICE has left our area because the equestrian season has ended. ICE, of course, wasn’t after equestrians, but the Mexican immigrants who typically work for them.
But a few weeks ago, a new man and his dog joined us. I’ll call him Mike. Nice guy, retired, in his late fifties or early sixties, who just moved here. When someone new joins the group, we’re careful not to mention politics. But one afternoon I blurted something about trump. Mike was scrolling through his phone then, but remarked, “Okay, so you all are on the opposite team from me.”
“Then I’d love to know, Mike, is why you still support trump,” I said. “Given the war and the rising cost of gas and everything else.”
“The situation at the border, the economy.”
“And ICE is the answer to the border and soaring gas prices are the answer to fixing the economy?”
We haven’t seen Mike since.But today our friend Arlene and her two dogs joined us and she asked about Mike. “Did you talk politics when he was sitting with you all, Trish?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah,” I replied.
“I thought so. I see him here later in the afternoon.”
And probably five minutes later, Mike showed up with his dog. It was Thursday, when the park opens later, at 3 pm, and it was nearly 4 pm. We’d been sweltering in the heat for nearly an hour, Nigel was tired and hot. Mike & I said hi, and we left.
So yes, there are days when I think it might be a welcome change to be a dog, to be Nigel concerned about only his ball, retrieving Frisbees, or stalking squirrels around a tree.













