I took the dog on a meandering walk through the neighbourhood this morning. The smell of frying bacon wafted out of every other house, and mingled with the smell of rain and wet sidewalks and the first fallen yellow leaves... Somehow, it was all so darn comforting.
Those first fallen leaves I imagined to be like the folks that don't like summer. The ones that are chomping at the bit to get on with things. Like my daughter, who's not a fan of weather extremes (or extremes of any kind), whose favourite piece of clothing is a hoodie. I'm more like those last leaves, hanging on through the chill of October, undeniably unready to let go.
While I walked, I watched our joyful dog in her own private glory, sniffing at new things and familiar things. She spotted a cat. The black and white one she's always keen to get closer to. The cat knows it and seems to taunt her, every single time. I readied myself, knowing that for the next block I'd be guiding her forward on a taught leash. (It feels like what I imagine sailing might feel like in high winds.)
I pushed forward, held tight to the leash, called out to my dog, trying to distract her. She wasn't having it. She sort of pranced in a diagonal direction, halfway floating through the air, opposing my forward intent with all her will, tail wagging, neck craned, all eyes on the cat... I couldn't help but chuckle.
While I walked and took in this soothing mix of sights and smells, I listened to the Spotify playlist my daughter put together for me. (Some of it, anyway...) It's over 85 hours long and its purpose is to inspire my own writing and introduce me to songs I've not yet heard - "the weirder the better" was my only request. The artists range from Beck to Amanda Shires to whomever is trending on Tiktok.
Somehow this mix reassures me in the same way as knowing that a bunch of the neighbours are frying up bacon on a Saturday morning, and that that old tease of a cat is still around. Somehow it all says to me, in the most peaceful and knowing way, "All is well."