This is Keesje. A little over two years ago, I walked her every Thursday for a sick friend.
On sixty Thursdays, I was busy with Keesje and Hanneke. I like to start my days quietly and slowly. But on Thursdays, I was at Hanneke's.
From my first walk with Keesje, I loved her and remembered what I love about walking with a dog.
That aimless walking with a purpose.
A dog that smells a tree, and I’m waiting beside her, doing nothing and doing something.
After the first tree, the next tree, a pole, a wall, or the protective suit around a motorcycle, everything was sniffed and smelled. What did she smell now? A handsome boy with long black hair, that sheepdog that slumped through his front legs, or that brown, cheerful Labrador?
What did she read? It was as if she was reading the newspaper and smelling all the news.
Together with Keesje, I explored the neighborhood. She had tiny, short legs, but she wanted to walk. I came to streets where I had never been and discovered lovely shops, workplaces, and beautiful murals. In the spring, I found a gorgeous park where a children's hospital once stood. The hawthorns were blooming, and tulips were popping up. Keesje walked loose and sniffed the grass, she loved it there and so did I. Sometimes we crossed the bridge and walked over the Mauritskade and along the Singelgracht back to Hanneke. This park became a favorite, even before we turned the corner Keesje was in the mood for the park, I let her go and she hopped onto the grass. The whole grass was sniffed. Sometimes, she walked through the landscaped area with stones and benches, and sometimes, she walked around it along the beech hedge. Will the leaves of that hedge be brown now? Usually, we walked to the end of the park and Keesje turned around, there were still places to sniff, she had missed some spots. Sometimes we met other dogs, there were very few dogs that Keesje liked, often she gave a snarl when dogs approached her too closely.
I haven't seen Keesje in a long time. Hanneke is no longer here, and Keesje has gone to a woman in the dunes.