"I want to go do something."
No response.
"Want to go get ice cream? Then we can go for a walk?" He lifts his head.
I begin texting friends, seeing if anyone else wants a nice social distance walk and evening ice cream. Earlier today I snagged a coffee around 2, sucked it down and then fell asleep for an hour. The logic baffled me but as the night progressed I was feeling more antsy than sleepy.
"Well, no one wants to go. How about we go together?"
He flips off his bed and I trick him into his collar and off we go, as usual, with his chorus of barking the whole way down the now quiet street.
Friendly's is mildly busy. I loop my face mask over my ears and stand patiently with Orion who is thrilled to be outside sniffing poles, peeing on mulch and waiting to see what comes next for our impromptu outing.
"Hi, can I have a scoop of cookie dough with peanut butter topping?" The ladies all crowd the window to ooh and aw at Orion. "He's so handsome!"
"Thanks!" I notice in the window a drawing with the words "Doggy Ice Cream $3.18".
"Oh! Can I have one of those too?" I ask.
"Sure, it's just vanilla ice cream with two dog bones," the cashier says.
"Sounds perfect."
I collect our cups and we sit on the side of the mulch, me making Orion sit before diving in.
It's pretty quiet as the sun is gone and COVID dominates the usual summer crowd. I'm feeling happy to be there with Orion who is oblivious to my mood, going to town on his cup, even as I reach to pull out the mulch that sticks to the vanilla ice cream.
"This is a good night," I tell him. And just smile as his head pops up to temporarily assess my ice cream. Some things never change.
