Thoughts on Glen and Other Subjects

Drizzle falls at the beach. It is early in the morning. I wait in the car for Glen to arrive and then we’ll take our customary long walk and discuss everything under the sun.

Glen is a special new friend who has steeled me against corrosion of my body, mind and spirit. I will be forever grateful for him for the rest of my life and I know we will remain friends for life.

We met when I was standing near a precipice and over that precipice was a void, a sideways abyss. He didn’t so much as pull me back from it, but taught me how to step away. He is one of the greatest teachers I’ve ever had.

I am the only one in the parking lot. No gulls or crows to feed the stale vanilla wafers and tortillas I brought for them.

I get out of the car and throw the wafers and tortillas around the parking lot. It’s kind of fun. I get back in the car and wait for them to appear. They always do.

Whenever we meet, Glen always brings me a meal, a book, or an item that might save my life in a natural catastrophe. I brought him a tomato from my parents’ garden.

I decided it was time to dispose of Clyde’s ashes. They are resting in an envelope on the passenger seat. I thought I might spread them on the river at the sanctuary, where I came to love this dog and where we had so many adventures with Bonnie together, where I reanimated as a human being, where I found a new direction for my creative mind. But the beach called to me even though I never took Clyde to the beach. This will be our first and last beach walk together.

Here comes a lone gull. Here comes Glen’s car. It will be good to walk and talk with him after a month-long hiatus.