Autumn Years

In late August, cool morning air

surrenders to the returning sun.

An elderly Black man lounges

in his front yard facing an avenue.

He angles back in an old recliner,
tending stacks of  straw sombreros,
fedoras and Stetsons...

his lawn a make-shift salesroom.

Though there are few buyers,

he is a confident entrepreneur.

He retires in the lingering warmth,

his employment assured.

No demands are made of his time

and he accepts no complaints. 

Soon, the leaves will fall
and the rains return.

Dog Blog - August 8, 2011

 It's been two years since I retired from Metro.  In January, Ami, my lovely border collie of 14 years, died when her kidney's failed.  It's been a difficult adjustment  as each day, we'd drive to a nearby park where she'd saunter around occasionally chewing grass but generally just enjoying being outside.  She had favorite walks.   We'd circle or meander Roxburg Bog, Lincoln Park, Spirit Ridge or the Larson Lake Blueberry Field.    Ami and Pepper, my other border collie, who also passed a few years earlier, filled my life with their company. When I drive by these places today, empty space and time exist.

I began walking dogs a month and a half ago as an independent contractor.  I work part-time for Puget Pets, a firm that provides dog walks and pet sitting.   I'd looked for a part-time job for a while.  Initially, I focused on areas of expertise....education, government and community services.  I didn't want to return to participating in meetings, managing programs or completing government reports.  I scoured Craigslist looking primarily at these fields but also at the part-time column.

I digress here.   Shortly after retiring, recurring pains in my chest told me that my angina had likely returned after 15 years.  When Catalina and I married in July 2008 and completed our honeymoon, I revisited my condition with my doctors.  After EKGs and CatScans, the cardiologist determined they could not treat my condition surgically.  That my best efforts should be put toward a regime of exercise, dieting and specialized meds. I was overweight and my blood pressure was also too high.  I suffered from stress and some depression.  They also entered me in a program for patients with complex medical issues.


Digression over, I believe in confluence.  By that I mean,  ideas or opportunities sometimes present themselves simultaneously and when recognized they can be combined to help you move forward.  I noticed several job postings for "Dog Walkers" and I was aware that dogs (or animals) have a positive effect on mental and physical health.  I had own dogs for years and, at times, bred and trained them.

This seemed like a potential solution.  I would exercise, be close to dogs and, oddly, make some pocket change.  Since the work would be part-time, I could spend mornings writing my plays and poetry, cleaning house or gardening.  Evenings could be devoted to cooking, taking courses, participating or with Catalina.  Walking dogs opened multiple opportunities for healing.

Side Streets

I’ve come to admire side streets.

They dissect neighborhoods

filled with dogs rambling fences

and cats napping window sills.

I’ve come to admire side streets

where urban farmers grow

P-patch gardens with vegetables 

and flowers as odes to self-sufficiency.
Some residents have more recently taken to raising

chickens, ducks and honeybees.

Side streets teem with life

different from bustling arterials

and concrete freeways. 

On those, people skitter to work
or shop their hurried lives,

rarely slowing except for coffee,
fast food or congestion.

I admire side streets where

residents rock in porch chairs,

lean fences in hiatus conversations
and young mothers wheelbarrow
infants in tripod strollers.
Here the labyrinth sounds of lawnmowers, 

children and wind rustle through trees.
Here fathers labor over home-remodel
projects, wrestle with car engines or
shoot hoops with sons and daughters. 

There is a tortoise pace of smiles

and acknowledgements…friendly

waves when passing by and a hope

that you may meet again.

Urban Life (continued)

Egress

I brake at an urban corner.

A disheveled veteran hoists cardboard.

“Veteran.  Need help!”

Further along my journey,

another indigent elevates truth.

“Hard times.  Need a beer!”

At a freeway exit, I slow

for an intersection ahead.

A twenties girl in khakis

approaches our anxious car line.

“Anything helps!” her sign.

I consider my ashtray,
full with parking quarters.
My wallet lumps in my back pocket.
I hold my breathe.

Wish the light would turn.

Urban Life (continued)

Prevailing

His arms windmill,

whip the air with street news.

Truth emerges in every rotation.

His hands full sails of hope,

as he hails every person gusting past.

“Real Change!  Real Change!”

The wind swirls.

Its currents waft each passer-by.

He tilts against its force.

Stands his corner flailing papers.

Few stop to listen.

Yet, his spirit presses on.

Runaway

Wearing a sopping sweatshirt,

a teen traverses the transit platform. 

His face a hungery landscape,

hoping for a handout.

A wet chick dropped from the nest

into humanity's downpour,
two fingers extend, begging

a quenching of morning need.

Men and women rush past,

hands full with fresh coffee and pastries.

He climbs the street to a Chinatown

Park.  Sits and shivers the bench alone.

I continue to my appointment.

Wonder why he doesn’t return home.

Nature (continued)

Grasscutter

He mows the hillside,

Left to right.  Right to left.

Switchbacks the overgown terrace.

Familiar terrain, the grasscutter

maneuvers caressing

the seductive landscape…

the ridges and hollows

until reaching the edges.

Unfamiliar borders require patience

and he is more careful trimming.
Reaching the bottom, he looks back,
satisfied at his maintained earth.
Understanding the topography

eases life.