I left my car parked at the magic shop after work and walked to the park for the dog festival. There's always traffic during festivals and there's probably no parking so i might as well just walk. There are dogs everywhere. I think every single dog in this town is out right now. This makes me really happy because i love dogs but i can't have one right now. I'm in a period of my life where i move around a lot and i'm not really sure when or where i'll stay or for how long, also my apartment doesn't allow dogs. I call George on my way to the park and ask him what he's doing. He said he was just doing some chores around the house, nothing really important, so i told him to meet me at the park so we could walk around the festival together. Maybe with George being there i won't get so sad about not bring a dog home. When i get to the gates of the park George is already there. I can spot him from across the parking lot petting a golden retriever. Those are his favorite dogs, they remind me of the golden i had when i was a little kid and it gives me a rush of sweet nostalgia. I walk up to George and pet the dog for a minute before we walked through the gates and I gave a small donation to the people running the festival. There are children and dogs every where, and parents scrambling to control both their children and pets at the same time. Dogs pull the leash one way and a child runs in the other direction not having a single concern on their minds. As we're walking a child runs straight into me. The little girl falls over and i get on one knee to talk to her. She looks a little shook up so i try to be as gentle as possible when talking to her. She told me her name is Flora and i told her my name is Ivy. Her knees are a little scraped up but nothing too bad. I helped her up and dusted her off. I asked her where her parents are and she looked around and said she had no idea where her mom is. I took her hand George followed behind to go find her mom or somebody who could help us. We found somebody with a walkie talkie helping to run the festival and tell him what happened. He presses a few buttons and starts talking into the device asking for the mother of a Flora DeRenaldo saying she has been found and is located under the big balloon arch by the ice cream. I left her with the man with the walkie talkie to get her a small vanilla ice cream in a waffle cone. When i brought it back her mom was just walking up. I handed her the ice cream and her eyes lit up like a christmas tree. I talked to her mother for a minute and she expressed her gratitude many times. Me and George separated from the little girl and her mom and continued our day at the dog festival.

My day started with a groggy rising to the morning sun. The morning sun is the brightest sun, i'm not sure if that's because it's fresh to the morning saying hello to the clouds or because my eyes have been shut for a hopeful 9 hours, but it's a pain in the ass when you're trying to sleep. I laid in bed for around two hours before walking around the apartment to find George already awake and listening to NPR on the old radio while making eggs. I walk up behind him and press my face into his back feeling the strength of his shoulders. As i tune into the radio in the background i hear the grim news of a little girls body found at the lake. This is quite worrisome because i live a few blocks away from the lake just outside of Collingwood Heights in a small apartment with not very good security. We turn of the radio and move to the tv with our eggs and turn on the news to find out more information about the death. Not only has a body been found but a window was broken at El Cheapo, nothing was stolen but the window was broken none the less. On the bright side there's a tagger in the neighborhood spreading positive messages and the occasional political angst that's always much needed, #staywoke. Also in contrary to the rise in crime somebody put a pink floral bra on the statue of Collingwood. It's an ugly statue anyways, i'm glad somebody jazzed it up a little. Citizens Patrol doesn't seem to have the same joy in the situation as me, but they really do have much more on their hands than a practical joke.
As i leave the apartment i give a quick kiss to George and grab my keys and rain jacket from the hook. One step into the morning sun has me rejoicing. We've been stuck in rain for a month, which is probably what's driving people to crime. It's enough to make me clean the bathroom and the kitchen. It was much needed but also much dreaded, but i felt a lot better afterwards and so did George. I got into my car and turned the ignition waiting for the engine to rev. I drove this car all the way from Maine to Collingwood Heights the summer after i graduated to meet a few friends to start a road trip. I had no idea that the friends i made in the town would make me stay or that i would meet such an amazing man but i'm glad it all happened. Now i'm just off to another day of work and another night of sleep.