The summer heat divides the people who visit our local dog park into those who go in the morning and those who are there in the evening. From about nine or ten in the morning until around six at night, it's usually vacant.

Let's say there's five to ten people there during the more hospitable hours and rarely more than a dozen dogs (because that's what I see). What's interesting to me is that hardly anyone who's there in the morning ever visits in the evening, which leaves me and one or two others who ever are there for both sessions.

That sort of makes sense because of how people divvy up and schedule their time, but that doesn't explain the animosity between the two groups. When the subject comes up, which it does with alarming frequency, neither group has anything good to say about the other.

To be fair, while the dogs romp and chase and play with each other, most of the conversation between the owners is just gossip. I don't know any of these people well enough to talk about them even if I wanted to. Vinko, my dog, gets along famously with both groups and he has his fans in each of them. There's usually one person who asks me to bring him around more because his or her dog likes playing with him, but these people live a lot closer to the park than we do.

As much as I'd like to take Vinko there more often, it's about a twenty-five mile round trip for me so I try to visit only when I also need something in town. So, one day I'll go in the morning and then pick up coffee, ham steaks, and tamales and then might visit the next evening when I've run out of bottled water, ramen, or milk. It works out pretty well, but it also keeps me on the fringe of each group.

They love seeing Vinko, or claim to, but we're not "regulars."

Maybe they do it among themselves when I'm not around, but I haven't heard any direct talk about politics. Sure, there's hints and dog whistles, but most of the talk is either about the weather or about the dogs and the things they do at their homes.

I don't mind talking about the dogs, especially not about mine.

Both groups get together outside of the park and have even invited me to join them, but I've yet to do that mostly because they meet up for lunch and that's not really a convenient time for me. I mean, it would be, except for being another trip to town and back and the gallon of gas I'd have to pay for and the wear and tear on Jose, my Jeep. And, to be honest, there just isn't anything I want to spend three or four hours in town hanging around to do.

I guess I'll stay as an outsider, but not an outcast, and try to juggle my involvement with both groups for as long as I can get away with it. I pretty much like both of them equally, as does Vinko, and I hope I never have to choose one or the other.