An animal

You cannot be half-busy around an animal: it notices before you do.

First answer one question honestly: are you ready for ten or fifteen years of costs, holidays planned around someone else, and a vet at three in the morning. If yes — go to the shelter on your own two feet instead of scrolling photos on their site, and talk to the staff about temperament, not looks. If no, that is a fine answer, and then pick a shelter near you, call and ask what they need this week: often it is not money but old towels, food, or two hours of hands. Come as a volunteer and work the whole shift: walking, cleaning, water — and take the dogs nobody takes, not the photogenic ones. Another option is a stable or a farm outside town: there is always routine there that is short of hands, and it shows quickly whether you can be useful without instructions. Put the phone away for all three hours: an animal will not understand why you are here and then not here.

Who around me depends on me, and when did I last actually notice it?