Some mornings Keely wakes up more impatient than others, a feature directly related to the last time I took her out, unsurprisingly. Since I went to be early, she was spread out over my stomach promptly at 4:15 am with her peculiar variation of bark-growling, trying to get a move on.
I am not a morning person, I do not understand those words. I get up early because I am not a morning person, it takes me HOURS to gear up for days where I have to be somewhere before 8 am. Since I have to be a the bus stop by 7:05 am, so be it. I wake up around 4 am. I hate it dearly.
There is also the exquisite torture I suffer Keely through, which is only applicable to the few weeks of winter: waiting not just for me to don shoes but also jacket, scarf, hat, and gloves. By the time we left the house she was prancing.
This morning was a walk around Lake Ella because it was not as cold as yesterday, and there was no wind either. As always, it is a melancholy trek, with the incandescent lights around the park giving off a sepia-toned atmosphere. Over the years a few have been replaced with bright white LED lights, but as of yet I cannot discern a pattern to that replacement. The city seems to be in no rush about it.
It was not surprising how few homeless people I saw, given the chill. In fact the only one I noticed (many hide) was at the Circle K store at the corner of Monroe and 7th, a rangy white man sitting on the sidewalk singing to himself.
Keely avoided him, and I trust her judgement. Some homeless people she adores, always going up and asking for pets, and it warms my heart the way she can make them smile a little. Such a small gift she gives them but it makes all involved happy.
Others she walks around with careful eyes, wary, and I wonder.
As with all Florida winters, it is still green in places and while many trees are thinned out there is plenty of palmetto fronds and patches of grass/weeds (can I ever tell the difference? The answer is no). I should perhaps notice more than that, but it is Florida – it is always green here, to some degree.