A Walk to Remember

As part of my daily exercise/dog ownerly duties, I take Takoma on walks through the neighborhood. We haven't quite gotten down her timing yet, so trying to guess when she will "evacuate her bowels" or "make water" is a crapshoot (pun very intended). I was actually convinced that the vet that spayed her may have accidentally removed her vagina because she had not peed in so long. Usually, I wait anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour after she eats to take her out. Sometimes she'll drop a deuce. Sometimes not.

Today I took her down to Rock Creek Park, which is conveniently located just steps from my building. Soon after we ran down the big hill at the entrance, she stopped and whizzed all over the grass. Score! We then went on this little path that winds through the woods where Chandra Levy may or may not have taken her last breath. The path goes along the edge of the creek, on the other side of which is Rock Creek Parkway. On this path, in the middle of the woods today, was a guy wearing headphones and playing a trumpet. One of the stranger things I've ever seen, but ok.

We trudged on and came up to a fork in the road. One way takes you further into DC along the creek and the other takes you back up to where my apartment is, along more creek or creek-like tributaries. Since I did not want any more exercise than absolutely necessary, we took the path that goes back to my building. I thought I would not see anything stranger than the trumpet guy, but lo and behold, I did. Two Mexicans (or Salvadorians or whatever) were bathing in the creek. What the fuck? Well, they may not have been bathing, but one of them did have a mullet and his shirt off and they were both standing in the water.

Another odd thing I saw were catfish in the creek. I was not sure that any living things could exist in the water, but I guess catfish are quite resillient creatures. It made me rethink my weekly choice of entree at Ship of Fools, the Catfish Po' Boy. The reason why I didn't think fish would be in the creek is because of the signs I saw on the path that indicated that during heavy rains, sweage could overflow and drain into Rock Creek. Mmmmmm, sewage. But that apparently does not stop people from fishing there, because I saw another sign that had the rules for fishing. There should probably be another sign that says: "If you eat the fish from this creek, you should know that they probably are swimming in and/or eating human excrement. Enjoy."

DC is a strange, strange place.