Neighbors ... and non neighbors

It's the last Sunday of August. Kids in the school district we live in go back to the classrooms tomorrow. Some of those kids have a habit of tromping down the slope that frames most of the back yards on our side of the street. They like my neighbor's slope because his property isn't fenced. Just tromp down his slope, through the yard, across the street, through the park and there you are, at school.

Well, surprise kids. He put up a fence and attached it to ours. The message of the fence is: Get the ---- --- ---- ---- --- --- and --- --- and just to remind ------ ---- out of my yard.

So your detour will be through our yard, under the fallen hydrangea and over the bale of straw (never mind the explanation). Good luck to ya. That's a pretty crappy replacement hinge I put on the gate last year. Just please close the gate after you, so my swift greyhound doesn't spot her chance when I let her out for her business. Otherwise, tromp away.

Shared space with neighbors today at the Dormont Pool, on, as my husband said, one of the fast-dwindling days of summer. C dropped me off and the cutest surprise was tied up outside the entrance.

A puppy.

I was too entranced to be smart enough to take a picture, but this little guy, black with brindle markings and looking decidedly German Shepard-ish, was happy for any attention. He had a collar, but no tags and was tied to a post with blue Weed Whacker string. A lifeguard named George was determined to take him home, as repeated addresses on the pool P.A. system failed to raise the puppy's owners. One of the lifeguards had put a water dish down for him.

The little guy was gone when I left.

I hope George took him because the puppy liked him (and almost everyone who paid attention to him). Who would leave a puppy tied outside a public pool, with Weed Whacker string?