The problem with having dogs is that, while they do provide a reason to go for a walk every day, you can’t always drag them to the park and then ignore them while you sit on a bench, such as the one pictured below, and read.

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And lately every time we’re in the park, that’s all I want to do: sit and read and sip water. I could, of course, bring a book into my back yard, but, my back yard doesn’t have tall broad-leaf trees (it has red-ears and ivy, but those aren’t the same).

Late in the afternoon, I can hear the laughter of the kids in the playground (the house that shares our back fence faces the park, so while it’s technically around the corner, it’s also one house away.) I find the park to be flawed, because there are no swings, but the kids don’t seem to mind, since they have this climbing/sliding thing:

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For that matter, the dogs don’t mind either, they’re happy to be around so many sniffable trees, and have broad expanses of grass to race across.

Of course, I could leave the dogs at home, but, I ask you, how could anyone resist a face like this?

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