My Evening Commute Daydream
Yesterday when we were on our expedition to the toy store, I told Halmonie that I’d long had an idle dream that Mama Dog and Baby Dog would one day meet me at the BART station on my way home from work. That used to happen in olden times, only with Doggy Dog instead of Baby Dog, who had not yet come to be. The first time Mama Dog brought him to the BART station, he was confused, uncertain why his walk had suddenly ended in a waste of noise and concrete. By the second time, he had it figured out. He would get excited when he heard the sound of the train, and as the crowd disgorged down the steps from the pedestrian overpass, he would become alert and scrutinise each one, looking for me. Often he’d start barking when I was still at the top of the steps. It was a very happy greeting and made me feel like a pipe-smoking cardigan-wearing patriarch from a 50s sitcom. If that was pretty damn good, how good would it be with Baby Dog along for the show? I really looked forward to hearing her little shrieking “Daddy!” echo through the BART plaza, but since Mama Dog has started back at work, I figured my idle dream would never come to pass.
Today was a long one. Things are hotting up at work again. I keep having days where three different people show up at 3:00 bearing two hours worth of work that they must have done by five. Do that math, if you dare. I had a big stack of unfinished work by 5:00, and decided to call in the cavalry for night work. My backup operator couldn’t be in until 6:30, and some of the stuff I was leaving him required careful explanation. I figured I might as well put in the hour of OT, make a little more of a dent on the interest, and let him work on the principal.
Trudging listlessly home after the sardine ride, I had just about made it to Wally’s World when I saw a familiar curved tail and a flash of neon windbreaker on the horizon. I raised my hand to wave at Mama Dog, and then noticed that Halmonie was with her, pushing Baby Dog in the stroller. When I got across the intersection, Doggy Dog let out his full-bodied greeting bark and raced towards me, pulling Mama Dog along by the leash. Baby Dog seemed…well, puzzled, honestly. The whole incident was probably very unusual for her, much like Doggy Dog’s first wait at the BART station. I think she’d need a firmer grasp of the context to settle on an appropriate response.
I took hold of the stroller, stowed my coat and case in the bottom, and pushed the rest of the way home. We took the long way home, taking a detour through Pedestrian Way. Mama Dog and Halmonie picked flowers for Baby Dog to smell, which is one of her new hobbies. Doggy Dog took a crap, embarrassingly, in somebody’s garden, but other than that a merry time was had by all.
It wasn’t precisely my daydream come to life; Baby Dog didn’t shriek “Daddy!” and it wasn’t at the stairs in the BART plaza, but I’ll take what I can get. When both parents are working you have to fit together the little bits of the dream where you can find them.
Today was a long one. Things are hotting up at work again. I keep having days where three different people show up at 3:00 bearing two hours worth of work that they must have done by five. Do that math, if you dare. I had a big stack of unfinished work by 5:00, and decided to call in the cavalry for night work. My backup operator couldn’t be in until 6:30, and some of the stuff I was leaving him required careful explanation. I figured I might as well put in the hour of OT, make a little more of a dent on the interest, and let him work on the principal.
Trudging listlessly home after the sardine ride, I had just about made it to Wally’s World when I saw a familiar curved tail and a flash of neon windbreaker on the horizon. I raised my hand to wave at Mama Dog, and then noticed that Halmonie was with her, pushing Baby Dog in the stroller. When I got across the intersection, Doggy Dog let out his full-bodied greeting bark and raced towards me, pulling Mama Dog along by the leash. Baby Dog seemed…well, puzzled, honestly. The whole incident was probably very unusual for her, much like Doggy Dog’s first wait at the BART station. I think she’d need a firmer grasp of the context to settle on an appropriate response.
I took hold of the stroller, stowed my coat and case in the bottom, and pushed the rest of the way home. We took the long way home, taking a detour through Pedestrian Way. Mama Dog and Halmonie picked flowers for Baby Dog to smell, which is one of her new hobbies. Doggy Dog took a crap, embarrassingly, in somebody’s garden, but other than that a merry time was had by all.
It wasn’t precisely my daydream come to life; Baby Dog didn’t shriek “Daddy!” and it wasn’t at the stairs in the BART plaza, but I’ll take what I can get. When both parents are working you have to fit together the little bits of the dream where you can find them.
posted by PapaDogDuvalier | 10:14 PM
2 Comments:
This one is on my "for sure" list of anecdotes for the anthology.
I think that is a marvelous greeting!
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