Kershaw Park

Come down outta that tree and fight! (iPhone photo by BobbaLew.)

“I’d like to meet Killian.”
So said my aquacise-therapist at the Canandaigua YMCA swimming-pool where I do balance training.
Killian is my new dog; Irish setter #7, rescue #5.
That therapist is probably in her 50s, although who knows? A lifeguard at the same pool told me she’s 62, although you’d never know it looking at her.
That therapist also has a dog, “Maya,” and suggested we walk our dogs at Kershaw Park north of Canandaigua lake. Kershaw is 25 minutes from my house, versus five minutes to Boughton Park, where I usually walk my dog.
But why not? It’s the only chance she’ll get to meet Killian.
I suggested she not bring Maya, since I had no idea how Killian would react walking with another dog.
One end of Kershaw to the other end, and then back. Perhaps two miles. I let her walk Killian — he’s on a retractable leash.
That therapist is in excellent shape, how I used to be when I ran. I also rode distance on bicycle. Now I’m down to walking my silly dog. My left knee was replaced, and I’m overweight.
I still have my bicycle, but it’s retired preferring to walk my dog. My beloved wife of 44+ years, who was similarly athletic, is gone. Taken by cancer.
So now it’s just me and my dog, who loves hunting.
A week later that therapist and I tried again. This time she brought Maya. Same distance, although maybe slightly less. I felt I had to allow for an 11-year-old dog. Killian would romp all day — nine years old, but still very spunky.
I’ve been to Kershaw three more times since, although alone with Killian. That therapist has other commitments. She just became a grandmother. Plus she’s not retired like me.
I have others who wanna meet Killian, but I’m not sure they could do the distance she and I do. I’m sure that therapist could do way more than me.
I decided Kershaw is worth doing. Many more distractions than my nearby park. Runners, other dogs, walkers, bicyclists; and many wanna greet Killian, who loves it: “Pet me!”
And of course Kershaw also has squirrels living in trees: “Meat for the table. We’ll take it home and roast it over an open fire.”

• A “rescue Irish setter” is usually an Irish Setter rescued from a bad home; e.g. abusive or a puppy-mill. (Killian was a divorce victim.) By getting a rescue-dog I avoid puppydom, but the dog is often messed up. — Killian was fine. He’s my fifth rescue.