So…

This old man walks down the road. In the country, not quite a highway, but a paved, rough edged roadway with sparse traffic. He stumbles every now and then. He feels the breeze lick his cheekbones in little whippets, not too strong. The air is dry, July dry. Plenty of sunshine and soft breezes have absorbed moisture. Clouds are few and sky is bright blue.

Vegetation is wild – grasses, dried sparse reeds, plains weeds of spindly grace blowing in the breezes. Scraggly trees and bushes dot the landscape before the margins of the woods – not a forest actually, but hardwood trees with full foliage of leaves and clumps of neighboring trees.

As he ambles forward on his trek we wonder his route. Where is he going? From whence did he come? How old is he? What is his purpose? What story do we sense he is about? And why don’t we just ask?

Dare we intrude on his privacy? Would he welcome the intrusion?

Are we ready to share our story to learn his? A give and take is now imagined necessary. Are we ready to engage?

Perhaps not just yet. But lo, a dog appears snoogling in the wastes of the road’s edge. He has not yet spotted the man, nor the man him. Their tracks are toward one another. Unplanned trek for both?

The dog spots the man. Alert now he lowers his head and is stock still. Eyes focused; ears pert; tail at half mast, a little lower maybe; muscles tensed. Not knowing the dog is ready.

The man still doesn't see the dog. Blindly slogs on his path toward wherever. He nears the dog, which is on the other side of the road. It would appear the man does not know of the dog. But the dog knows of the man!

Their trajectories near. The dog is less tense, sensing a friendly being. The man stops. Seems to rest a moment. He stretches an arm and waggles a leg rid of tension and ache. His gaze wanders to the landscape, then to the other side of the road and sees the dog.

A smile washes his face. He seems open to meeting the dog. The dog loosens his muscle-lock, raises the tail and drops his ear. His mouth opens with a tongue lolling sideways. The tail begins an excited dance.

No traffic. The man looks both ways. Tsks at the dog who responds at first warily, then excited to greet the man. The dog crosses the street. He reaches out to the man with his nose and panting mouth.

The man stoops to greet the dog with an outstretched hand. The two meet. A scratch behind the ears and a massage pet of the dog’s shoulders. The dog melts into the man. And the man does the same.

A meeting. Chance. On the road of life. Somewhere two beings happened to be. Unknown to each other. Which makes the first step of welcome? Who let’s down their guard? Both? In which order.

Trust is the issue. Allowing the unknown happen. A mutual exploration enriching the participants.

How ready are we to trust the other? How guarded are we?

April 18, 2014