I was walking my dog downtown this morning.

I was walking my dog downtown this morning. 

A tall young man was walking towards me with a bucket of mauve-colored paint, a scraper and a paintbrush. Off in the distance another guy was squatting while painting a fire hydrant.

Excuse me, I was wondering is this the new color of the hydrants?

No, this is just a primer and then they'll get a coat of bright red.

Oh good, I was worried.

There are 1,570 hydrants in the city, he said as he bent over the top and began scraping off the old loose paint. He looked like he was shearing a sheep.

That's a lot of hydrants to repaint. I'm just glad that they'll be fire engine red. My dog is glad too, I said, laughing.

Today is garbage day and the garbage man has already worked our street. The empty green and brown bins are open mouths all askew.  

I wheeled my bins back up the steep granite steps one at a time feeling a strange comfort. Simple signs of progress in a chaotic world.