New Earth Wisdom

I saw the man standing beside a trail to a forest I knew well. He was a tall man with a walking stick and suspenders who looked like he decided to climb mountains for a living. I decided I would see if he wanted to say hello.

The man waved and came toward me with his dog like an old friend. He immediately became interested in my ability to walk without shoes.

“I saw an album cover like that once”, he said. “The guy had lighting coming into his head, it was wild”

I pause as I realize this is the cover to my new book.

The man sees my small Yorkie Terrier and immediately begins to talk about Eddy. At first I don’t know who Eddy is, but I see the tender way this man looks and speaks to my dog. Eddy, I gather, is the Yorkie he lost recently.

The man pulls himself together and begins to talk about how great Cinnamon, my dog is with tears in his eyes. The tears were so genuine that they didn’t ask of anything from me, they were just honest. It was as though seeing Cinnamon was enough. Words sometimes cannot do what dogs do.

It begins to rain and we start to walk home, realizing we are walking the same way. We take our time, the old man with his walking stick, and me with my bare feet and tiny dog and begin to climb one of the giant hills that is encompassed in our small mountain town.

Between silence and short sentences followed by laughter, I feel completely at home. There as just some people who are so at home in themselves that they give you this permission just to… be.

“This is me”, I said as we got to the top of the hill at my house.

“I walk by here daily!” said the man.,

“I hope to see you again soon!” I said as I walked inside, knowing no other words were needed as we parted.

I had an eventful day that day but what I remember is Eddy, the dog I never met and how a mutual exchange led to more beauty and simplicity in my day.

This is for Eddy