The ball does not ask whether it is 28°C. It simply lands, and I simply go.

Gus made one lap. Measured, unhurried, entirely correct for the conditions. And then found a patch of shade and the company of strangers, which is his preferred combination. I noted this and returned to work.

By the third retrieve the air was sitting on me. By the fifth I was breathing through my ears. By the eighth I had forgotten what temperature meant. The ball landed. I went.

Dad called it eventually. I did not argue. The evidence was already in my posture. Low, deliberate, satisfied in the way that only comes after the body has been fully used.

Gus was waiting by the car. Cool. Composed. He had the look of someone who had made an excellent decision.

I have no regrets. The ball required chasing. September had no say in it.

#pawscarwilde #gooddogpark