Black and Blue, and Laundry, too

Somehow lately I've been all about black and blue. And I don't just mean the eight bruises currently on my legs that were caused by me doing who knows what (blood clot girl taking a baby aspirin a day problems). What I mean is that I've been finding black and blue stuff on my walks.

Unused Black Dog Poop Bag

Unused Blue Dog Poop Bag

Post Laundered Found 

Black T-shirt and Blue Towel

And, yes, the blue shirt I wore today and my wonderful black dog.

Yup, those are the two poop bags tied to my fanny pack (fanny packs rock!!). Now I have a confession to make. I walk by a lovely walking buddy's home every morning on my way to work. For over a week now I've been noticing something blue at the base of one of her plants. Well, one morning I grabbed it to see what it was. It was a soggy blue towel tied in a double knot. I took a bag out of my backpack (yes, I carry an extra bag in my backpack...you never know when you might need one, right?) and tucked the soggy towel in there. That night I untied it, washed it, and a perfectly wonderful towel emerged. So now I have a mystery. Was it my friend's towel (of course I'll give it to her if it was)? Was it discarded by a passerby? Stay tuned....

A lost dog, a lost key, and some poop bags, oh my!

Sometimes I find things I don't keep!

As I was walking with three friends tonight we came across a sweet sweatered (is that a word?) miniature poodle. And, gadzooks, her tag said she lived quite a ways away. I called the number on the tag and a woman answered with, "Do you have my dog?" She was super happy and the crazy thing was that she was talking to me on her phone and she was just about fifty feet away...she was out looking but she hadn't seen her dog. So, yay for sweet reuniting. Boo for neglecting to photograph that sweet doggy.

And before that, and totally less thrilling, I came across a house key in the road. We noted the location and I slipped it into my pocket. It's posted on the neighborhood listserv and hopefully I'll find its owner, too!

While this exciting evening walk was decidedly void of poop bag finds, I'm still way ahead because I found two bags on recent walks. Both of which were found when I was walking with a brand new friend who had no idea about my proclivity for poop bag finding. We'd only just begun walking when I had to basically inform her...

"Hi, I'm Kali, and I'm a doggy poop bag finder." 

Seriously, I need a twelve step group!

Score #1

Score #2

And then I picked up other people's discarded poop bags. 

I'm an equal opportunity poop bag retrieval kind of gal.

Loving a Band and Bonded by Love

The other day I was out walking with my dog, Hazel, and a few of my lovely walking buddies. I thought I saw an unused doggy doo bag in the grass. I stopped to check it out, but, alas, it was merely a discarded or lost headband. As I kept going, leaving the headband behind, one of my friends said something along the lines of, "Probably a nice headband." I was so wrapped up in my doggy doo bag disappointment I just kept walking. Well, that evening I found myself totally consumed with thoughts of that headband I'd passed by. Jeepers! I'd forgotten the joys of finders keepers.

Early the next morning one of my friends and I went walking and you'd better bet I snagged that headband.

And you know what? It is a nice headband! At least after I washed it it was.

See?

But wait, there's more!

As I was walking to a friend's house tonight I noticed a number of discarded bottles and cans in the gutters and even a used doggy doo bag perched just at the edge of a storm drain. I shook my head (inside my head) in disbelief and kept on walking. When I was walking back home I had the loveliest vision. I had this sense of my ancestors having thought of me many, many years before I or my parents or their parents were even born. And I thought, by golly, that they loved me...just the mere imagining of me. Just as I already love my children's children (no rush, kids!) and their children and all the children to follow. And so I picked up those bottles and cans, and I picked up the doggy doo bag, and I thought of my ancestors and my descendants...and I smiled thinking of this never ending line of love.

A Perfect Storm of Dorky Awesomeness

So I've been thinking about doing this blog for a while, I'm almost embarrassed to say. It's been the perfect storm of dorky awesomeness that's spurred it into fruition. You see, the thing is this. I'm a little bit obsessed with the things I find when I'm out walking my dog. And we walk A LOT! I figure we clock close to 20 miles a week on average. And on our walks I've had this mad, crazy habit of finding things. And by things I mean brand spankin' new doggy doo bags...and other cool stuff, too. I know. I know. Really? She's going to blog about this? The short answer is yes.

Here's the thing. For a long time now I've walked my dog, Hazel, and before her, Scout, and I've never, ever bought those doggy doo bags. Ever! I've actually managed to find them on our treks. When I said the perfect storm of dorky awesomeness, I have to show you my haul from just one week.

One

Two

Three

Four, Five, Six (all still stuck together)

Bonanza!!!

And then I found this, the icing on the cake. An awesome new stamper that I can use with my students when we study winter.

I know, right?!?! Fabulous!

I'm just going to trust that you understand how amazing and wonderful all of this is. 

Signing off until my next fabulous discoveries....