Margaret Cho has said: “People talk to me now that I have a dog. Just the other day, a homeless man said, ‘That dog is going to end up in a pot of rice.’” It's true, people do talk to you. Last night as I was standing with the dogs at a crosswalk, a woman yelled from her car, "Great choice! I have one too!" I gave her the thumbs up. I assume she was talking about the dogs, but what if she meant my choice of rain jacket, corduroy pants, or sneakers?

One mustn't make unwarranted assumptions. Last week we passed a guy waiting at a busstop; he said enthusiastically, "Giants! Yeah!" Giants? I wondered. The dogs aren't that big. I laughed and nodded and only after a few more steps realized he was referring to the baseball cap I was wearing.

Next week we are taking a week-long vacation at the coast. Barring the dogs being immediately swept out into the ocean by sleeper waves, I look forward to admiring Boris's speed over the flat, wet sand, and seeing how Vinnie reacts to surf, and the chasing of sticks thrown into surf, and the sneakiness of surf sliding over your feet and making you go whoa and jump four feet straight up into the air, and other things surf-related.