One Man and His Dog.

The reason there have been no posts since November 30^th is because there’s been too much depression, too much anxiety, too many issues. I simply haven’t been minded to say anything because there was little to say and none of it seemed worth saying. But today I saw something that lit a spark in a jaded mind: I saw a man walking his dog along the footpath which leads out of Uttoxeter bus station.

The dog was an unusual looking creature, part border collie and part borzoi was my considered guess, and the man matched the dog in the matter of oddness. There was something about his face and mannerisms which suggested one of those conditions typified by the umbrella term ‘learning difficulties.’

As they walked along the otherwise unoccupied path, the man would occasionally bend forward to slap the animal’s rump playfully. The dog apparently understood the gesture and responded happily. At one point the man halted the animal and moved forward to run his fingers through the mane of thick hair around its neck, and then buried his face in it to express affection. And again the dog responded with obvious delight while I watched from a distance and smiled. Dog and human rapt in mutual love, trust, and the pleasure of one another’s company.

And then it occurred to me that there are millions of people all over the world whose lives are made miserable or snuffed out altogether by the self-serving iniquities of cruel and greedy tyrants, furtive governments, and deluded people who place national, ethnic and sectarian boundaries above the qualities of compassion and humanity. And in this foul and foetid swell of a dark and depressing sea, once more the God of Small Things showed the true value of life to which we should all be aspiring.