It’s an eclectic bunch who cruise Greenlake. Street musicians smatter the perimeter, offering unsolicited but harmless commentary. Walkers cruise at their own comfortable speed. Sometimes there is a coffee in one hand and a conversational hand gesture in the other. There are people with dogs. People walking mindfully alone. Mothers with children who sometimes walk in groups. The kids themselves typically are watching, taking it all in from their strollers.
One toddler noticed us. Her eyes became saucers as we approached. With awe, “Mama! Look! That’s a lot of dogs and one lady!” Mama looked up and our eyes met, both of us laughing. She told her toddler, “Yes honey you’re right. That is a lot of dogs and one lady.”
One woman. Ten dogs. That tends to stop people in their tracks. Ten happy swishing tails. Forty-two feet clicking in rhythm together. A look of calm across the faces of the pack moving together in unison. Most every passerby smiles in acknowledgement, some scowl at the poop making machines and almost everyone else ogles. We have been stopped for photo opportunities. Sometimes people ask and sometimes they don’t. Either way we stop and smile happily, but it doesn’t matter as long as we keep moving.
Movement is what makes this possible. With ten noses constantly testing the air for Eau de Squirrel and de Pigeon, their focus on me and the path ahead is what keeps us together. It is a personal challenge to keep instincts from snatching the leashes from my hands. For the dogs it’s a challenge to stay focused and use their teamwork and energy to make it around the lake.
As people approach, watching a formation of smiling dogs and wagging tails, they wonder how I do it out loud. Often we will hear “How do you manage all of them? I can barely handle one!” or the ever popular, “Wow! I can’t believe they all get along! How do you do it?” If we are just walking by I simply smile broadly and say “Practice!” It seems like a smart ass reply, but I am sincere. I pride myself on the fact that we are there walking the lake as a team. All of my dogs enjoy being there and it shows.
Distractions and interruptions are constant and bombard us from every angle. With an invisible shield of understanding, the dogs ignore it and tune into me. They mirror my energy, my emotions. If I am having an off day, where I feel disjointed and unbalanced, they do too. Their movements become erratic while they jockey for a place in formation, unhappy with where they end up. Sometimes I swear I can hear them whine, “But I was there first! That’s my spot! You NEVER let me have the outside so I can bark at the bikers! NO FAIR!” It is funny too, because whatever “spot” they have when we start our journey is the one that they want to keep for the duration. No matter how many stops we have, or people stopping to take pictures and shrilly announce how amazing this is and “Oooohh my goodness, you guys are just the cutesiest things EVER!” Their excitement spreads to the dogs who begin to jump up and want to get closer to be loved on and hence, tangle their leashes. I untangle the leashes and as we walk away, each dog seeking their original place in line.
Our Zen radiates to all those wandering folk who pass by with smiles. On days where I am focused and calm, we are a moving, balanced being. There is lightness in the synchronicity of our steps, and our movement around the lake. My head is up, shoulders back my arms are relaxed and swinging in rhythm to my own walk, which determines theirs. In perfect movements, even the dogs step together in unison. The dogs feel one another, their calm hovering over their bodies and mine, floating us around the lake. It is a calmness of movement gets noticed too. Once a woman stopped and stared at us, smiling with her friend as she said “Wow. You all look really Zen.” It was true. We were very present in our own moment and world.
While we are present in our Zen moments in our walk, so are others who pass us. One young woman stopped to talk to me after we were finished, getting ready to get back into the car. She was probably in her mid twenties and twinkled with peacefulness. She smiled when she spoke. “Oh! I saw you yesterday walking and I meant to stop you and say something about how great you all are! This is amazing! But what I wanted to tell you was that after I saw you yesterday I went on about my day. Every once in a while I would stop, think of seeing you all and I would smile. I just really wanted you to know that you brought me a lot of Joy. Thank you for bringing me so much Joy!”
And all I did was walk around the lake. One woman. Ten dogs. Amazing.
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