“Toss that dog a bone” took on new meaning for my Ridgefield pack this afternoon, literally.

At 4PM on December 15th, my wife Katie and I were walking Kasha, our two year old Labrador Retriever and part-time ambassador for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. The weather was a balmy 56 degrees with light wind, reminiscent of a Spring March afternoon.

We had walked past the fountain and returned back on Main Street, took a left on King Lane, then a right onto High Ridge Avenue towards Saint Mary’s.

All of a sudden we heard a thump near us. Katie said, “What was that?” And my silent-self pondered, “Hmm. Probably kids.”

From out of the blue, well technically out of a vehicle passing on High Ridge, a large yellow-freckled milk bone had been vigorously but joyfully tossed out the front-passenger window, landing some 5 feet next to us.

While Katie questioned, I turned and saw this holiday spirited milk bone lying close to us along the sidewalk and witnessed a pickup truck ever-so slowly driving past us with the passenger-side window down and the driver looking in his rearview mirror to check our reaction. As he drove off, he gave a hearty wave. And, I could have sworn his smile filled the frame of his car’s rear view mirror.

I waved back. I picked up the milk bone, gave it to Katie while Kasha started to drool in anticipation, and stated, “That man just tossed us a bone, literally!”

“Imagine that,” my wife said, “a random act of kindness.”

“Yeah” I replied, “Only in Ridgefield.”

ps - This essay was published in the Ridgefield Press Jan 8th 2009 in the premier edition of Ridgefield Voices - Click here for the Ridgefield Press’s edited and published version (208k pdf file)