I saw a deer on 6th Street the other day when I was on my way out to the animal shelter. It wasn't even very far out of town, just about 25 yards past the last stoplight on the town side of the bridge that crosses over the turnpike. I was actually looking at a car for sale that was parked by the side of the road and first thought there was some sort of deer statue next to it. Then I saw the deer's head move. In the rearview mirror I saw it cross the road and disappear into the woods.
I'm a volunteer at the Dover animal shelter now. In the midst of the dog search I thought it might help my dog-finding karma if I became a volunteer. And the Dover shelter looks like it could use all the help it can get. Stratham and Kennebunk have posh shelter facilities that are possibly nicer than a couple of apartments I have lived in. Dover's shelter is in a couple of old wooden buildings out back behind the county jail, set on a hill overlooking some corn fields. I can't help but think it looks like an animal jail.
The volunteer work is basic and decidedly unglamourous-- cleaning cat and dog kennels, doing laundry, washing and drying pans, beds and bowls, filling litter boxes. But it's also ok to play with the animals to help socialize them. I tried to take a little beagle puppy for a walk on Monday but it started raining and he wanted to get back inside. I didn't really mind it much. Maybe the puppy had more sense than I do.