Before Nightfall

At the end of the day I felt chilled. This head cold was a nasty one to battle and I was at low ebb. I changed into some flannel pj bottoms and a sweatshirt and crawled into my bed. But Ziva, my six month old puppy, wasn’t agreeing to my plan. Knowing she hadn’t been outside much today, I sighed and pulled myself out of bed.

I knew I didn’t have the energy to chase her around but I also knew that unless I was outside with her, she would not stay unattended for long. Soon she’d be scratching at the door to come back inside with me. So I grabbed one of my beach chairs and sat down in the driveway where I could throw her tennis ball to her across the lawn. She happily played fetch, dropping the slimy ball into my lap, then scampered off to investigate the yard, keeping her eye on me the entire time, lest I make an escape back into the house without her.

Before long she was digging a hole in the woods. Then she decided to do a little pruning of one of our overgrown shrubs. Not caring in the least, I was content to sit and watch her. Soon she made another run onto the grass finding the tennis ball.

I sat there on the driveway and took in the sounds and sights of a day nearly ending. I heard the chipmunks and the peepers, the sound of traffic on the busy route two miles or so from our home, and watched the tops of the trees still lit by the sun. Ziva too listened to the world, barked a half-bark, then contentedly continued to sniff around the yard. Forever staying within sight of me, her eyes darted from side to side at the sound of a motorcycle coming into our neighborhood and soon, into the driveway next door.

I continued to sniffle and knew it’d soon be time to go back inside to warm myself under a blanket. But I was grateful to a puppy that pulled me outside to take in the sights and sounds of our yard before nightfall fell upon us. There’s little more I need than a rambunctious puppy and a slimy tennis ball to help me end my day with true warmth.