Shade Tree Wisdom 12/16/07

Brisk this morning when I started my walk. A bit later than usual because I first had to roll out the garbage container and set out the recycling box with papers, etc. So the big yellow boxes had already swept the streets clean and I was alone But not quite, for here came this dog following me. I stopped and said one word, “Home”. He listened, then went about his business checking trees, and following either close behind, or in front of me, but staying with me. I saw his collar had a nametag, so he couldn’t get lost.

Suddenly he gave a little bark and approached something on the road. Our roads are kept clean, we have these carts that run around picking up stuff. So this blob in the middle of the street was unusual. The dog sniffed it and turned away. When I got closer, I saw it was a turtle. What was he doing in the middle of Sand Pebble in Texas? On his way for a family Thanksgiving, or what? Well, I picked him up and put him on the grass across the road, and he went on.

So I came near the end of my walk when I saw a man, barefoot, picking up his morning paper. He saw that dog and said, “So there you are. Come.” And the dog did. He said to me, “He does that all the time, hitches a ride with someone walking past.” “Well, I enjoyed the company, but won’t he get lost sometime?” “Not so far”, he claimed. And I finished my walk.

And you thought I’d be reporting some deep thoughts. Especially since tomorrow is that Natal Day. But this is actually what life is, it happens while we are planning some future project, doesn’t it. Maybe that is why the Psalmist said, “This is the day that Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Savor the moment, and be thankful for God’s every blessing for they are new, and rich, to us every morning. Isn’t that a thought to carry with us? And I read this about a grandmother who was usually busy when the grandchildren stopped by, dusting, cleaning, doing this and that. One day they found her sitting on the porch and asked if something was wrong. “No, I am just sitting here letting God love me,” she said. Let’s do that more often.

GP 11/16/07