who are the people in your neighborhood?

Went for my run this morning which quickly turned into a side clutching stumble from a severe stomach cramp probably due in part to last nights $1 tacos washed down with foamy beers by the lake. Or maybe it's residual effects from Monday's risotto but either way, running was out of the question. Plus I left Wrigs asleep, belly up on the couch so I was absent a pocket full of poo bags.

I was headed uphill in the hot sun when my stumble mutated into an ape like crawl at which point I decided to cut this "run" short. I detoured into a neighborhood of fancy pants homes along the lake and then slowly started to morph into a more upright position. I was really huffing and puffing and needed to stop every 20 feet or so to catch my breath. Finally the ground levelled a bit and started to decline so I was able to walk without dragging my knuckles.

There are areas throughout the neighborhood with large patches of open grass for people to bring their dogs for play. I was coming upon one and there were 2 women, one had 2 yellow labs and the other, a tiny little golden pup. Of course I had to stop. I will never pass up the opportunity for some good ole doggy lovin'.

Paolo the pup, was just 5 months old yet he was half the size of Wrigs at 2 months! In fact, I think Wrigley shot outta the womb bigger than this guy. The labs were a bit older and all dogs were in training for Canine Companions and they were so well mannered and calm. I told the women that my dog could really learn a thing or two from these guys and they were so sweet and suggested I bring him by sometime to exercise with them.

I responded: "Oh he's a bit of a spaz and has a little too much energy. I wouldn't want to do that to your well behaved brood."

woman 1: "Oh I'm sure he'd be fine. What's his name?"

me: "Wrigley."

woman 2: "I know him! He's friends with Simon, up the street. (Simon is another golden.) then she continues with, "Wait a minute...You're the lady in the balloon!"

me: (somewhat perplexed) "The balloon? You mean like the boy in the bubble?" (had no idea what she meant by this but she was all animated and excited about it so now I was curious).

woman 2: "Aren't you the one who's hot air balloon crashed?"

me: "Yeah, a few years ago. How did you know about that?"

woman 2: "Oh I heard it from Simon's dad."

me: "Oh. I see. Hmm. I don't remember telling him about it but maybe--?"

woman 2: "He said you really messed up your back. Are you doing any better?"

me: "Well somedays are better than others." (I'm starting to wonder if she saw me moments before practically crawling on my hands and knees from the stomach cramp) "But today's not so great."

woman 2: "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Did you see that recent hot air balloon accident? The balloon actually caught fire and people jumped out while it was still high in the air. So tragic."

me: "Yes, that was awful. Thankfully mine was not as bad as that but I'll never get into one of those air bombs again."

woman 2: "Oh me neither!"

me: "Ok well it was nice to meet you both and your sweet pups. Enjoy your day!"

woman 1 and 2: "You too! Bye!"

So since the balloon crash is fresh on my mind here are some pics from that frightful day. These were taken right after our "pilot" said that we were going to experience a "bit of a bumpy landing" which translates to: blasting through the atmosphere nearly missing highway power lines by just a few feet and then crash landing (not once, but 3 times due to wind gusts) by the side of the highway. Tom took these pics right before we started our fast descent because he said he had never seen that look of sheer terror on my face before. What a guy!