Walks with Joey

Right now, I take Joey for walks three to four times per day. This doesn't include taking him out on the leash to hike his leg on the tree by the dumpster in the parking lot. No; these walks are The Real Thing. They last from about fifteen to an hour and fifteen minutes, and because of them I've explored most of the six block radius of my apartment and in some cases beyond. My friend Jennifer gently broke the news to me that I live in a ring of neighborhoods commonly known to Lawrencians as "the student ghetto." In fact, by the time she shared this with me, I was past being surprised. Any time Joey and I go out after 8:30 in the evening, there are people assembled to drink beer on 9/10 surrounding front porches. When we go out before 8:30 in the morning, red and blue plastic cups, empty beer cans and bottles, and the odd paper plate litter 8/10 surrounding front yards.

Bullwinkle's is a bar, and it is my next door neighbor. There is approximately a three foot buffer between the exterior wall of the building I live in and "the Bull's" back patio. Luckily, my apartment is on the far side of the house. So far, noise hasn't really been an issue. People stumble to and from this bar at all hours, and sometimes as they pass my street-facing windows Joey and I can hear their voices, and Joey will woof softly at them then roll over and fall back asleep. No big deal.

However, this is two weeks before school even starts. When the semester is in full swing, and greek row begins overflowing with scantily clad young women and party-eager young men, will my little piece of Lawrence begin to seem like a little piece of hell?

Nah, I don't think so. And if it does, I can always move. You don't have to be a law student to know that leases aren't unbreakable.

I've walked off four pounds, but I also have shin splints, which I last experienced during my one and only season of junior high school track. Then, I let them bother me; now, they just leave me with a sense of accomplishment.