The Woman With All the Dogs

Who picked me up

It’s official. A new ice age has begun. The local weather service has announced that this February just ended was the very coldest and very snowiest February in the 140 or so years of this town’s history. Records were shattered all across this neck of the prairie.

To fake us all out Mother Nature gifted us with a nice, sunny day on the first of March. The temperature actually got all the way up into the forties (Fahrenheit). That’s the day I should have gone grocery shopping. But no, I was on some tangent and remained blissfully unaware that a major winter snowstorm was a-comin’ the next day. I didn’t check the weather until after I stared long and hard into my refrigerator.

Since I am one of those walkers, weather is important in regards to the planning of grocery trips. The storm wasn’t due to fully hit until around noon the next day so I had to race the storm to the store.

Snow flurries were dancing through the air on my morning walk to the store. It was actually kind of nice except for the fact that the bank thermometer that I passed read 8 degrees (Fahrenheit). It was as I was coming out of the grocery store with 7 bags of groceries in my gloved hands that I saw that it had begun snowing much harder. And it was sticking to the ground.

The storm was early. It had to be early because I am never late. Of course, I refuse to wear watches so I didn’t really know what time it was. All I knew is that I had a 3 mile walk ahead of me through a thick snowstorm carrying 7 bags of groceries. I briefly wondered if any of my produce might freeze on the walk home. Passing the bank thermometer again it now read 5 degrees (Fahrenheit).

‘Rule of thumb’

That is an interesting phrase because I happen to have a rule about thumbs. I never stick them out. Back when I was a young hooligan so many decades ago I stuck my thumbs out a lot. I once hitchhiked across the country and back. But that was in a different century. In this current century I have sworn off using my thumbs in this way. I now rely solely on my feet.

Having said this I must point out that if I am walking down the avenue in a heavy snowstorm carrying 7 bags of groceries and a car pulls up next to me and the driver lowers the window and asks if I want a ride I am guaranteed to say yes. I don’t rely on the kindness of strangers but I can appreciate it when it happens at just the right time.

I was delighted to find that the woman who stopped to offer me a lift was the same woman who had stopped to pick me up four times previously. So now I have had 5 conversations with this woman, each of which lasted about 5 minutes. So I have known this woman for a total of 25 minutes spread out over the last couple of years (since the taxi cab company went out of business). Oddly, I feel I can almost call her a friend.

One thing I really love about this woman is that she always has dogs with her in her tiny car. For me, that’s like a super duper double bonus. The first time she picked me up she had all four of her dogs in the car, one of which is a Burnese Mountain Dog that is the size of a small hippopotamus. The other three dogs were normal sized.

When she picked me up for the fifth time yesterday she only had the Burnese with her. The dog took up most of the back of the car. I barely had room to set down my groceries. Getting into the front passenger seat, I thanked the woman for picking me up in this horrible weather.

The woman, who I am guessing is in her late forties, maybe early fifties (Fahrenheit), smiled, saying, “My pleasure. but I have to say this will be the last time I pick you up. I just sold my house and I’m moving.”

“Oh?”

She pulled out into traffic, “Yup. I originally moved here because of the kids but they’re all adults now and they can take care of themselves. It’s time for me to move on to the next phase of my life. And I am really tired of the arctic winters here. Geez, it’s like a new ice age is starting or something.”

(Just what I had been thinking!)

“I’m a physical therapist, a massage therapist and a yoga instructor. I can find work anywhere so it’s time for me to be in a place that I can really vibe to.”

“So where are you moving to?”

“I don’t know. That’s the exciting part. Next week I’m going to get in my car and just drive, letting spirit guide me. I’m headed down to Texas to check out the vibes in a few places down there. First, though, I’m going to gauge the vibes in a few places in Arkansas. I’ll just keep driving until I find the right vibe. It’s all about the vibes for me now.”

Oh my God, I thought. She talks just like me!

“Before I always ended up living somewhere just because of family and other life situations but now I’m going to choose where I live. Vibes are now the number one priority. It’s all about me and the dogs and no one else.”

At this juncture I looked back and smiled at the Burnese — and to also make sure the dog hadn’t decided to fix lunch with my groceries.

“If I don’t vibe to Arkansas or Texas then I’ll head over to Oregon. There is no rush. I won’t stop until I find the right place. It’ll be kind of like an adventure.”

I spoke up, “I’ve never lived in Arkansas but I’ve lived in Texas and I have to say that the winters down there are delightfully mild but in the summer it’s like being inside a rotisserie oven.”

“That’s fine by me. Of course, my Burnese probably won’t like that.

“I also once lived in Ashland, Oregon for a year and that was fantastic.”

“Oh really? Why did you leave?”

“Well, I think Spirit decided I needed some harsh lessons and Ashland is just too nice and not harsh enough. I blame it on Spirit. Of course that was 30 years ago. I don’t know what the vibes are like now. A place’s vibes change over time.”

“Oh, you’re absolutely right about that but the vibes of a geographic location tend to change much slower than our own personal vibes. Nothing stays the same. If the vibes of a place change enough I can always continue my adventure on to somewhere else.”

Suddenly, we were parking in front of my apartment building. I didn’t even have to tell her where I lived. She remembered from the first four times she picked me up. What is that if not a friend?

I turned to the woman, “Thank you again for the ride. I am truly grateful. And I wish nothing but the very best luck for you on your new adventure.”

“Thanks. You, too.”

Me, too? I didn’t mention anything about going on an adventure. The biggest adventure in my life right now is walking through a blinding snowstorm carrying 7 bags of groceries. Other than that there is no adventure in my life.

And that is when it hit me! That woman friend magically materialized in my reality for five minutes for the purpose of implanting the word, ‘adventure,’ into my thick noggin. I haven’t been able to get that word out of my head since. I realized that I am missing adventure from my life. I needed to be told that.

As for the Burnese, it magically materialized in my reality for five minutes for the same reason just about any dog does; to exude some love. I can always use some of that.

I exited the car, closing the passenger door. I then opened the back door and reached in to pet the dog. I then grabbed my grocery bags and set one hand’s worth on the ground as I closed the door with that free hand.”

“Thanks again,” I called out.

As the woman began driving off the big dog turned around in the back of the car and stuck its face up to the back window to look at me. With my free gloved hand I waved good-bye to the dog.

Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. Writings of White Feather

A past adventure story: