My dog Sparky is too smart for his own good and he has such energy, I’ve learned it helps to take him to doggie daycare.  At first I thought it was sort of a stupid idea but it really wears him out to be around other dogs all day. 

I decided to take him today since I had to work in the Grace Covenant Church’s community garden this morning.  Plus I had a luncheon engagement so I figured it would stimulate him instead of laying around all day. 

This dog certainly needs stimulation! We adopted him after he had been thrown out by two other owners because they couldn’t handle his energy.  He reminds me of the child who acts up because he or she is too smart and gets bored.  

However, when it was time to pick him up, it was pouring rain outside.  Do to the way my eyes handle glare, I don’t drive at night and the rain made it sort of dark.  Plus it started coming down pretty hard so I joined two other cars who had pulled over off the road on an exit ramp. 

Finally it slowed down enough so I felt safe driving again.  However, on the road where the daycare is, there was an obstruction so the road was closed.  I still have to use my GPS when I’m going to this daycare and I had no idea how to get to it another way.  I figured I could find some street parallel to it and skip the area where it was closed.

Well that didn’t work at all.  It’s by a university and I got all turned around going into the campus.  I ended up where I started and it was raining even harder.  The only thing I could think of to do was to ask the person directing traffic for directions.  So I got out in the pouring rain and he spouted off the directions.

Unfortunately my brain doesn’t work that way.  I have to write it down or I can’t remember it. So I ran back to my car in the pouring rain, grabbed a pencil and paper which I should have brought with me in the first place.  I think I always secretly hope I’ll remember directions without writing them down but I never can.  He was sort of impatient with me since he was trying to direct traffic but I thought I understood well enough.

I ended up winding back and forth down the various streets with the GPS voice constantly saying, “recalculating.”  Sometimes it even wanted me to turn onto a dead end street!  After a good 30 minutes of driving on twisting, narrow roads in the pouring rain, I managed to find the daycare.

That was step one.  Step two was trying to find my way home.  I must say, I do hate when someone gives me verbal directions.  I just cannot understand them.  Many folks have no idea how much of a challenge directions are for me and they grow weary of always having to repeat everything they say slower so I can write them down.  

One thing I noticed about my 1 1/2 hour trip, was how I didn’t get anxious or upset.  If I had to be somewhere at a specific time, I probably would get very anxious but it felt good to remain calm. My challenge now is for me to avoid panicking when I get lost going to planned meeting.