Dogs can be creepy smart...

Early evening, on the way to Nonna Michela's in Caltanissetta.

We're sitting at the intersection, waiting for the light to turn green as a small group of pedestrians pass in front of us. AmoreMio nudges me and points out the stray dog that has decided to cross in the wake of the pedestrians. (He knows I've got a weakness for anything that wags its tail.)

As we watch, the people continue on towards a shop, but the dog stops at the corner of the intersection and sits down with its back to us, vaguely watching the opposite corner.

The stray dogs in Sicily do this all the time, just take a break wherever they like. Tired? Just lie down... no matter if it's in the middle of the road. Cars will go around me.

I figured this one was just a bit wiser than the other dogs, and had decided to take his break on the sidewalk instead of in front of traffic.



I couldn't understand what the dog was looking at though, as it fixed it's stare more intently on the opposite corner. There weren't any cars coming that way. If he liked the look of that other sidewalk corner so much why didn't he just cross?

Then the lights changed. As our line of traffic inched forward again, the pedestrian light opposite the dog also changed to green... and my jaw dropped.

"Non e' possibile..." AmoreMio gasped.

The dog had gotten to it's feet again at the change of the light, and began to cross the street, being careful to stay on the crosswalk.

A car approached the red light, brakes screeching as it pulled right up to the crosswalk, but the dog didn't even flinch. He merely continued towards the green "walk" symbol, apparently sure that the car would stop.

When he reached the other side, he took a left towards the next intersection.
 We were so enthralled by this little performance, that we doubled back, eager to see an encore.

And he did it again!
Stop at the red light, wait for it to change, then cross on the white strips.

After this intersection he disappeared into the grassy field across the way that had evidently been his destination. It hadn't even been a direct route. Most dogs would just make a beeline for point B, ignoring any roads, cars, or people in their way. But this dog had gone out of his way to follow the less direct grid pattern provided by the crosswalks; using experience I can only imagine he accumulated after years of watching people doing exactly the same thing at every intersection... and perhaps after watching other dogs come to unenviable ends when they attempted to enter traffic.

I may be exaggerating a bit, getting so excited about this.

But I love being amazed. And I love dogs.

So I'm milking this experience for all it's worth.