Strangers in the night

 

I expected the year to start slowly and that has definitely been the case. It has been a wash out. It feels like it has been raining not stop and my reluctance to go out is topped only by that of the dog who refuses to budge most of the time. Dark, wet and cold. Not inviting. All of the photos I have taken this week have been dark which is no surprise given the time of year. At the same time my world is very small at the moment. The lull over the festive period means that I have not been walking anywhere further than the end of the street and that is as far as the dog will usually go.

The dog, Rio. He is a mixed breed, as I said last time. I don't know much about the animal world. A species and a colour is as specific as I get. He was 4 months old when we got him a few months ago. He is a rescue dog. Why go for a rescue dog abroad? It wasn't the plan. It started when my wife turned 50 last year and with the money she got she wanted a dog. So she spent many days with friends going to various shelters but continually hit the same snag: we don't have a garden. That is a real shame. We don't have a garden but I could take a dog out for multiple long walks per day over time and that is not as good as someone who has a garden but locks the dog in all day as they are at work. My wife was so adamant that she was getting a dog that eventually she looked abroad via Facebook and that is how we have the pup. But its not gone to plan. I envisioned long walks through the woods while my wife imagined playful puppy times. Outdoors he is panicky and agoraphobic ironically. Indoors he is 80% good but 20% unpredictable and aggressive. Not the fairy tale we expected but he is part of the family now. 

Anyway on Saturday I took that photo above. My wife and kids were in Glasgow all day and when they returned by train it was pitch black. Usually they would have to take the long way home which is lit and mostly safe. The shortcut through the woods is not so I went down with the dog to meet them. That was an ordeal. When I was not dragging him I was carrying him. Even with nothing behind him he kept stopping and looking behind in fear. Its a shame. He was about ripping the lead out my hand at this point when in the dark woods floating lights came toward us. Thankfully that was brief and as soon as he saw the rest of the family we went bananas. From there he was fine. Safety in numbers it would appear.