A Gloomy Walk

It's raining today and chilly. I decided to bundle up and go for a walk anyway, I needed the fresh air.

It started out well, drippy with rain but the crisp, fresh air was so refreshing. And then I saw something so sad, that I literally felt it in my heart. A dog, a very young looking black lab, sitting in the rain, looking miserable. It had a chain on it's collar that was attached to a stake in the ground. There was an open garage door nearby, the but chain didn't seem long enough for him to get inside, out of the drizzle. He looked at me, pleading. I wanted to cry. I stood for a minute. Was there anything I could do? I wanted to run into the yard and yank the stake from the ground, bundle him up and bring him home with me. Instead I kept walking, feeling useless.

Why? Why do people have dogs if that's the way that they are going to treat them? Why would you leave a domestic animal with no shelter, no escape from the elements?

I continued my walk, my heart heavy. As I stared down at my feet, plodding along, I saw something else that made me sad. Sad and frustrated. The sides of the road were absolutely filled with garbage--used tampon applicators, fast food containers, jugs, bottles, wrappers, cigarette boxes. Just last spring a large group of high school students in the area cleaned up all along our road. It looked beautiful. Now it looks dirty and gross. I wanted to scream--why don't people THINK once in awhile! Why is it always the same people who seem to care and the rest who obviously don't?

What is wrong with people?

These are just two very small instances today. Of course, there are the larger, more devastating examples of people not caring--sexual abuse, human slavery, animal torture, cruelty of all kinds. But for today those two things were enough. Enough to make me feel that I'm not doing enough. Enough to make me feel discouraged.

I see why driving one's vehicle is much easier on the conscience. If I had been driving I never would have noticed that soaking wet dog. I would have zoomed past all the garbage and trash tangled in the grass and bushes. And I wouldn't have had to feel one bit of guilt or sadness.

Maybe if we walked more, it would open our eyes.