He was aways ahead of me, with his phone pointed up into the tree adjacent to where he stood on the trail, obviously taking photos of the tree or something in it.
It is the far edge of spring here, just buds and tips of living things, hinting at the soon to be explosion of green. But for now, we teetter between strong winds under cloudy skies with cold rain, and a few warmer afternoons of sunshine.
So here we are, those of us who frequent the nature around us with reverence. In fact i’ve just passed the two open fields, where i think i caught the tip of Mt. Hood (although it could have just been a cloud formation and my active imagination), and the walking thought in my head was something along the lines of gratitude for the surrounding trees giving off such great oxygen for my lungs, and thinking they may be thanking me for my exhales in return, and feeling that, doing a little hum on my exhale to center my vagus nerve. The sun is peeking through the cloud cover, and my stride quickens with all this fortune, when I see him ahead. With his arms raised as high as he is comfortable in his thick coat, and a sense of intensity of purpose in the direction of the phone camera.
a few steps later we are parallel on the path. “Spring is ready to pop open. so much beauty.” I voice in his direction. He lifts his head with a smile, while reining in the leash on his dashound/beagle mix breed pup.
“Oh, I was getting a picture of the crow. Can you see it? on the far branch. I thought it would be a good picture for Halloween.” he replies. I can see the crow partially from this side of the winter bare tree. To that, i mention the two crows in the tree in close proximity, who were seemingly rattled by a hawk who decided to rest nearby. Their loud cawing was making it evident that they felt their territory had been invaded apon. I wondered if crows were that territorial. Which led to a discussion on the intelligence of crows.
“You know the crow has a tiny pea sized brain, and they are highly intelligent. You would think for the proportionate size of our brains, that we would have better sense.” he remarked, at one point.
“I think all animals are highly intelligent. We just haven’t developed the means universally to communicate with them” i replied. then i proceeded to tell him the story of the speech pathologist who developed “buttons” to talk with her dog. “do you have a computer?” i asked, which is a fair question to ask of a person who looks old enough to have not made the digital transition in their work years. If someone has an interest, I will share resources with them.
at this comment, he goes into his story. “I lived in Silicon Valley. But I never got into computers. I was in my second year of college (studying biology and chemistry), when I was diagnosed with cancer and given one year to live. After going through surgery and during the health protocols, i took the first job that was offered me, to keep my medical insurance and be able to pay the medical bills. And I just stayed with that job. I was a meter reader and worked my way up to a superviser. I retired 3 years ago and moved here.”
At this point, i relayed my short sting working with the USPO, after high school, as a rotating mail delivery person. Thinking back to that time, it gave me a lot of time to think about things, in general. i mean you are by yourself walking for hours. You have lots of time for your mind to wander.
He noted that he also spent much time on a vehicle, on a route. He had a practice of listening to radio shows and learned a lot through listening to them (remember those days?)
And speaking of time…He said
“They have been talking a lot about small particles, you know the things smaller than the atom. And getting closer and closer to understanding consciousness. Consciousness needs time and energy. Without energy there would be no consciousness, and without time, everything would happen at once (boom).”
yes, the moment and the way he says this, it hits me. my lesson for the day (maybe eternity). I don’t need wikipedia, a guru, or a reddit discussion on Consciousness, i’ve received my answer, in the early afternoon, at the side of Turtle Pond.
our conversation has reached a crescendo, and our body language signals that it is time for both of us to continue our separate walks.
“It has been nice talking to you.” extending my hand toward a shake.
“I’m Roger”
“and who is this?” i ask referring to his patient dog.
“She is Chelsea. I had a wonderful Jack Russell named Sparky, who I loved dearly, and who passed away in April. I am still not over Sparky, who had the best smile. People were drawn to his smile. But, then Chelsea came my way.”
“Well Chelsea is a sweet girl and a patient girl, I can see, as she’s waited the entirety of our talking. See you again, when our paths cross”
And that’s today’s park story