thermopylae, kind of

I was walking home tonight and I stopped at a corner and a firetruck came flashing past all lights and sirens and then almost immediately slowed to a crawl right in front of me. What the hell, man? And then I saw a black dog in front of the firetruck, barking and hopping and generally giving the firetruck what for. Half-lab, half-something-rather-bigger, but totally dwarfed by this huge red fire engine. The firetruck crawled down to the next corner, dog raising a ruckus and nipping tires the whole way, and then pulled over and stopped. I don't know what happened next, but the firetruck pulled out, turned a corner, and took off hellbent for leather again.

I continued walking, kind of worried about the dog, but, you know, not worried enough to go check up on a dog that was already known to be just a wee bit aggressive. About half a block further on, the dog came tearing along the sidewalk, skippin' and hoppin' and prancin' and yippin' and obviously delighted with himself. He did all the puppy play behaviors I've ever seen in one glorious rush, and waggle-tailed around me for a bit after that, trying to get me to chase him. I just barely managed to fight off the urge to race him into next week; he eventually peed on the nearest 5 or 6 trees and then zoomed off down an alley.

It was a beautiful thing. So much joy, so completely absurd.