The walk before bed

Half nine, round the block with the dog, which has quietly become the fixed point of the day. It started in August as a thing to do with a puppy who would not settle and has turned into something I would now be genuinely put out to miss. Twenty minutes, the same route, left at the corner and down past the church and back up the other side. Danny comes about half the time and when he does we mostly do not talk. I have worked out that it is the only part of the day that is scheduled and is not for anybody. The Sunday call is for my parents. The Tuesday class is mine but it costs money and has a teacher in it. This is just a loop of pavement at half nine with a dog who needs it. I notice I defend it. Danny suggested going out for dinner at eight last Thursday and I heard myself working out whether we would be back in time, for a walk, round a block, that we could have done at eleven. Which is a small ridiculous thing and is also the first time in about two years I have protected something that was only mine.