PIcking Up Dog Poop

Getting older and retiring has benefits. Picking up dog poop is not one of them. I grew up on a farm with an occasional dog or two. We never picked up their poop; however, we did inadvertently step in it which after doing, we tried never to do again-especially when barefooted.

Recently, I have been in Minneapolis with a new grandchild--wonder of wonders. Two terriers live in this apartment as well and need to be taken out to do their thing three times a day. However, this is not an easy task for a former farm girl in spite of the cows, pigs, and chickens that I grew up with.

LaVerne & Shirley at rest...

The preparation, in itself, is timely. I place the "bob" (allowing me back into the building) and the key to the apartment in a pocket. I stick my cell phone in the waistband of my pants in case I lose the keys (or, heaven forbid, a dog). I call the dogs and attach each leash. Once out of the apartment, they pretty much know the routine--unless another dog distracts them in the elevator, or while walking to the front entrance, or the back exit, or somewhere outside. If so, things get exciting and quickly. I must either retreat, take a different path, or pick up one of the dogs as "removing one from the equation" (quote from son) usually lessons their aggressiveness.

During all this, they try to remember the reason for the walk as I carry a poop bag in case they do.... If they do, there is a bending over and a picking-up-the-poop (while my hand is inside a plastic bag) process while holding on to two terriers, making sure the keys and bob do not fall out of my pocket and my phone does not disappear somewhere down my pants. ... all this while hoping another dog or squirrel does not appear on the scene.

I try not to make eye contact with residents as I return to the apartment knowing I must look like a frazzled grandma being pulled along by two dogs...

Laverne and Shirley are very well-behaved. It's just that it has been all-new for me. Talk about "life-long learning"--there are opportunities every day.

The new grand daughter? The wonder of wonders? That's another whole story--the story of a miracle.

1 Corinthians 2:9 tells me, No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.

Whether it's cuddling a new grand child, walking the dogs, enjoying the clouds, struggling with an unfinished, difficult task, God is in everything. Find Him wherever you are and in whatever you are doing. ... and, it helps to have a sense of humor. He created that too.