Today in 2015, the first news reports about a dog in Seattle that had figured out how to get itself to the dog park on the city bus.
The black lab was named Eclipse.
Commuters in Seattle’s Belltown area had started noticing that there was a dog getting on the bus by itself, without any human companion.
Then, after three or four stops, it would get off the bus at the stop for the dog park.
News outlets who heard about Eclipse’s bus rides found out the backstory.
The dog’s human was a guy named Jeff Young.
The two had been riding the bus together, but then one day Young was smoking when the bus showed up, and while he wasn’t ready to go, Eclipse was, and so the dog left without him.
Once she proved that she knew where to go on her own, Young didn’t mind if she rode solo.
Bus riders didn’t mind either.
“She sits here just like a person does,” said one of the human riders. “She makes everybody happy. How could you not love this thing?”
The story of the bus-riding dog because viral, and Eclipse became a local celebrity for the rest of her life.
In fact, when she passed away in late 2022, the King County Metro paid tribute to one of its most famous commuters.
“You brought joy and happiness to everyone,” they wrote, “and showed us all that good dogs belong on the bus.”
“Welcome back” is what NASA will be saying this month to Comet 2022 E3 (ZTF).
It’s going to be visible from Earth this month and in early February.
By the way, last time it passed this way was 50,000 years ago, so take a look if you can.
Seattle dog’s rush hour ride: on the bus, by herself, weekly (KOMO News)
Bus-riding dog who took herself to park remembered as ‘Seattle icon’ (Washington Post)
A comet not seen since 50,000 years will be visible again in early 2023 (Interesting Engineering)
