Dog Park Poetry
"The park is an artificial space necessary to the urban setting, with raked gravel instead of soil, piped water, and escape-proof gates, but that does not prevent the dogs from returning, for the span of our visit, to a state of nature that soothes even those of us who are mere observers."
James Carroll's beautiful and moving column today makes me feel really good about my advocacy for off-leash recreational areas in public open space.
Socializing and exercising our dogs off-leash fulfills an evolutionary promise that we made made generations ago when we allowed wolves to scavenge food and shelter from our dwellings in return for services rendered.
"[T]his bond is what we contemplate in beholding dogs as wonders, recognizing creatures who would lead humans back into the natural awareness on which Earth’s survival now depends."