Another day, another dollar, and oh, goody….another walk. I love walks, especially when Momma lets me mosey along, nose and eyes to the ground, sniffing each blade of grass, spying the little ants and beetles busy, busy, busy…they somehow remind me of Momma, rushing to and fro, accomplishing very little.
Yet today, I had an experience….oh, I know, you are going to say, I am getting just like Momma, spinning tales that sound so far-fetched that you don’t know where the truth ends and fantasy swoops in, distorting, yet enhancing reality.
So…we were walking along and just as we got to the big old insidious maple trees, I was sure I heard the leaves, high up, whisper, ‘Jakita, Jakita.’ What? I have good ears but even a better imagination so, what? I plunked myself down to survey and gain control of the situation. I was pretty sure trees don’t talk. Did a Two Footed Joker climb up, way up to tease and taunt me? Momma, with her usual impatience, gave me ten seconds and then told me we had to get going…as usual, she had things to do….places to go.
With a sigh, I stood up, stretched, started to walk away and heard, ‘Jakita, Jakita, Jakita, stay awhile…we have some catching up to do.’ Now what? I craned my neck this way, then that way, like swiveling like casters on a chair. Way, way up there, hard to actually prove, it looked like a Floating Face, with eyes, ears, nose and mouth, made of green leaves, gazing down at me. Huh?
Being a logical Policy and Procedures Dog, my first question was… ‘How do you know my name?’ ‘You are here all the time, Jakita. I watch you and your Momma…I keep you cool in the summer, shelter you, house your wild life. Besides I was here in this park before you and Momma were born.
God willing, I will be here when you have sought and caught your Pink Cloud to heaven. I know all about you Jakita. Think about me when you are warm and cozy at home in the next Arctic Vortex, come winter. Think about me in your air-conditioned house in the heat waves of summer. Think about me in the droughts as you lap up fresh water. Think about me!’
I looked at Momma…had she heard the Floating Face?…..I didn’t think so because she did not look incredulous, just impatient to get going….no, this time, the revelation was mine, mine, mine to wonder and ponder.
Truth be told, (and I am all about the truth, LOL), if you had asked me before that day, I would have told you, I don’t believe trees talk, (no matter what Momma claims)…and there was definitely no such thing as a Floating Face…but now…I am not so sure…and come to think of it, now I have a lot more compassion and understanding for the plight of trees…
I am just saying…you had to be there.
