Ping's friend at the park

Every evening around 6 we walk to the small park near our apartment in Bang Khae. Ping is six now and she is not a young dog anymore, but she still pulls on the leash like a puppy when she sees the other dog. The other dog is a little brown mix, about the same size, called Bow. Bow's owner is a retired man who speaks very little English and I speak very little Thai, so we communicate mostly by nodding and pointing at the dogs.

For the first few weeks Ping only sniffed Bow from a distance and then turned away. Then one day they both lay down under the same tree, very close, and didn't move for ten minutes. We just stood there like fools. Since then they run together around the water fountain, and the owners sit on the bench and drink their coffee from the 7-Eleven next door.

I have been thinking about this a lot. Ping has never had a best friend, she was a rescue and she spent a long time alone in a shelter. Now she has one, every day, at the same time. Maybe that is the best thing I did for her this year. Not the vet, not the food, just the park.

Yesterday it rained and the park was empty. Ping looked at the gate for a long time before we went home.