The rain stopped two houses down

A walk with an old dog is a different kind of walk. Marley and I went for our walk to Worcester this morning. It's a three-mile route, all sidewalks, with a lot of tree coverage. Close to the one-mile marker, it started to sprinkle and continued for about 20 minutes, enough to dampen the streets and sidewalks that weren't protected by the leafy canopy. On the way back, Marley slowed quite a bit, particularly on the last half mile. Usually, when he wants us to slow our pace, he'll get in front of us. This time, though, he was hanging back. With a charming coincidence, I was listening to Bruce Springsteen's "If I should fall behind". We turned the corner and walked on the damp pavement of our street. The dampness stopped two houses away. The rest of the road was dry. When we reached our yard, still on his leash, Marley lay down and began rolling around on his back, scratching what itched, bits of dried grass clippings clinging to his fur. Once inside, he had a long drink of water and then settled for a nap on rug by the door.