Walking the dog...

I have been house-sitting since Tuesday, which includes the bonus of taking care of "Taz," the Australian Red Heeler. I love that dog. She stares at me a lot, which is kind of creepy sometimes. It is like she is reading me. It makes me nervous, those big brown eyes just staring at me as I move around the house.

Yesterday, as I was walking her around the affluent neighborhood in which she lives, I found myself on the street that lines the Mission Park. There are some poorer houses on this street, more eclectic, you might say. There was this one two story house that looked almost haunted. It was painted a dark grimy green, and the upstairs porch was screened in, black and ominous looking. The sky was beginning to look threatening. Purple clouds were gathering. Thunder rolled. The stage was set.

As I approached this house, I could hear the beginning of a classic song beginning to emanate from the creepy upstairs porch. I could hear the tick, tick, ticking of a clock, and then the BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM of the intro...

"Ticking away the moments that make up the dull day.
Fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way.
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town.
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way..."

The words and music rang out clear as Taz found a blackened bone in the gutter and began chewing. Crunch, crunch, crunch.

I passed the test today in Jacksonville. It was four hours of hyper concentration, where time seemed lost. I could not believe it was noon when I came out of the testing room.

All I saw was the word, "pass," and I sighed with joy. The journey continues...