Kind Acts of Randomness

I am all about patterns. I search for patterns wherever we go. I find patterns in the leaves on the ground, the clouds in the sky and the rhythm of my cadence matched with one of our dog walking clients. Patterns are everywhere and sometimes I’m overwhelmed by identifying them every week.

But some weeks the patterns are lost to me. I can’t find them, I don’t see them, and as much as I try randomness takes over. Random events happen and no matter how focused I try to make my brain, there is no pattern to see.

“Just find the beauty in the randomness,” Gretchen tells me, but that’s really hard for me. Of course, one look at the desk where she keeps the computer and things look pretty random…not necessarily beautiful, but definitely random.

This week has been a very random week. I’ve really struggled with how random it’s been because random kind of gives me a tummy ache. For instance, I’m used to getting up early in the morning, going outside and then curling up under the desk while Gretchen works for a few hours. But the start of this week Gretchen wasn’t here. She was pet sitting Dublin at Dublin’s house and by the look of things, they had a pretty good time.

I got to meet Dublin and we went on walks and stuff, but still, Gretchen wasn’t here and my morning routine became scattered and unorganized and it worried me so much that I got a bit of a rash on my belly again. I didn’t blame Dublin. She’s very sweet and while young and exuberant, it wasn’t her fault that Gretchen was at her house and not at ours.

Of course, Gretchen brought Dublin to our house and yet again, I had to learn to share my place with her…dog beds and all.

The weather was pretty random too. One day it rained like the kind described in the bible and the next day we had blue skies and sunshine. Some days we had both — sun and rain — and I can’t tell you how many times the wind irritated my tail (it tickles and I end up biting my tail while we walk because I can’t stand the feeling!).

Of course, it made for some pretty dramatic shots including a random outing with my dear friend Sharon who wanted me to pose with her for her holiday card! I was honored to do so, but she took some pretty fun and beautiful photos without me as well in her Georgia O’Keefe hat and gorgeous purple coat!

And Gretchen had fun using Snapseed to make the phtos all the more interesting.

There were normal events too…like walking with Roux and Woobie and Woobie refusing to look at the camera and instead wanting to check out where we were going, not where we’d been…

…and Roux happily barking because she wanted to keep going and never ever stop!

Or my outings with Monty who LOVES randomness and thinks every minute is as exciting as the next or the last!

Or my walk with Carter and Kali who are the epitome of random while one walks one way on the leash and the other walks (pulls!) the other way. No matter how hard I try to show them that walking in a straight line is fun and efficient, they insist on randomizing our walks with forays to the left then right, straight ahead and then far behind. Even getting them to sit still for a photo is way too much for their desire to be random!

But randomness prevailed as my routine was disrupted with interesting combination of dog walking — like walking with Monty and Dublin — or being left at home so Dublin could meet Tyson for a walk on the trails where the squirrels prevailed!

And then, at the end of the week, Tyson coming over for a impromptu slumber party and then a really long walk the next morning (after we’d stayed up all night telling scary stories!) down to Genessee Park and back (that’s a long walk folks…trust me!)

What a random week! Gretchen tells me that it was a typical December week as everything is always out of whack during this jam-packed holiday month. But looking back, I shouldn’t complain because the randomness meant that I got to do things that I normally don’t get to do like visit with my dear friend, Sharon; hang out with my new friend, Dublin; share all of it with my “regular” friends; and practice breaking from my normal routine of hunting for patterns.

Who knows what this next week will teach me!

Enjoy!

Rubin