Shadow

May 19, 2019

“Shadow and things that go bump in the river”

Shadow and me reading the newspaper

            GRANDVIEW, WA – You’re just in time to join me for a walk to the mailbox. It’s somewhat of a lengthy, downhill jaunt along a car path covered with powdery sand. Pleasant as it can be. It’s the walk back that might put a strain on you.

            And, it’s the cold breeze that’s going to freeze your buns off on the trip there and back. I’ll wait while you go find your jacket. – Much better. The only thing long-sleeved I packed for our trip was this green hoodie. I thought it might be a bit a chill during our mountain excursions. Didn’t think I’d need it on the dessert side of the Cascade Range.

            I knew we’d have cool nights and mornings. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize how easily “cool” could turn to “cold.” It’s obviously tricker-weather we’re facing here in the Northwest. Texans are no strangers to tricker-weather.

            By the way, as we trek along, I need you to be on the lookout for two things. Smooth, flat stones and goatheads. The stones are for Rhonda’s herb garden. My niece readily identifies all of the herbs in her garden by painting the names on flat rocks and tossing them in the garden. Apparently, stones don’t blow away like little cardboard signs. The girl is a genius. Or she reads a lot of gardening books.

            Beg pardon? Goatheads? That’s the demon weed that produces those horned-thorns that will become one with your shoes. We hate ‘em. The thorns, not the shoes. – Oh, and the dog that’s tagging along with us? That’s Shadow, one of Cody’s ranch dogs. Cody is the youngest of Curt and Rhonda’s three boys.

            Cody likes me because he has to. I’m his uncle. Shadow likes me because I usually give her a treat. Without the treat, Shadow wouldn’t give two hoots for me. I don’t think she can see all that well, so I’m fairly sure it’s the smell of the dog treats in my pocket that sends her in my direction. I do the same thing with people who carry around bags of Cheetos.

            Speaking of mountains, Curt drove Rhonda, Kay and me up to Bumping Lake for a picnic yesterday. He had to drive “up” because Bumping is a mountain lake that’s on the path to Mt. Rainier, Washington’s tallest mountain and most active volcano. When this bubba goes off, it needs to be in the summer, when most of the snow has melted and run into rivers like Bumping.

            Bumping River is the source for Bumping Lake. The racing river is named for the sound the boulders make as they bump into each other while being carried along by the rapids. I didn’t actually hear any bumping sounds on our drive alongside the river, but that may be because the collisions couldn’t be heard above the roar of the raging river. It was so beautiful… and frightful.

            Excuse me a second. -- “Okay, Shadow, here’s another biscuit. And don’t give me that look. Just eat the thing.” – Shadow is not a fan of year-old stale bone-shaped biscuits. She’ll eat ‘em, but the look on her face is one of dire disappointment. I hate that in a dog. Cats don’t carry on like that. They don’t care one way or the other. They’ll take it or leave it.

            Did you happen to notice the flat rocks we passed during the walk? I’m not upset at you for failing to be on the lookout. I imagine you realize we don’t pick up rocks on our trip TO the mailbox. We collect ‘em on the back. No worries, I made a mental note of the location for each flat rock I saw.

            Okay, take a breather, while I stick this letter in the mailbox. Keep in mind, we don’t raise the flag on the mailbox when we pick up the mail. That’d be silly. We raise it when we stick something into the mailbox. That way the mailman will know to open the box even if he has no mail to deliver. I hate to insult your intelligence like that, but I’ve known people who had trouble catching onto that concept. I was one of one of ‘em.

            All right, about face. It’s uphill, so pace yourself. Don’t worry about the flat stones. I’ll pick ‘em up. I only need you to carry them back for me. – Oh, yes you are. – “And Shadow, quit smelling my pocket. You’re not getting another lousy biscuit until we make it to the house.” Oh, brother. There’s that disappointed look again. Cody should’ve named  her “Whiner.”

            Oh, one other thing before we move along. Tonight is movie night at Curt and Rhonda’s house. Curt turned their basement into a movie theatre/pool hall. Tonight we’re watching “Independence Day.” The first one.

            Can you believe they’ve never seen it? Over the past 20 years, I’ve seen it about three times. It’s a good movie to watch with someone who hasn’t seen it. It’ll be a hoot listening to Curt laugh and repeat some of the funny lines from the movie. He does stuff like that during the movie. It doesn’t bother me a bit, if I’ve already seen the movie. But, I have a tendency to throw stuff at him if he does during a movie I haven’t seen. That’s pretty much what you’re supposed to do on Family Movie Night. – The movie starts around 7:00. Popcorn will be served. 

            Okay, try not to drag your feet or your shoes will collect goatheads. Remember, we’re collecting flat rocks for “parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.” Sing along if you have a mind to. 

           

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Contact Mark at hayter.mark@gmail.com