Autumn days swept by like dead leaves over quiet sidewalks. Inside old walls, baseboard heating clicked away to counter the dropping temperature. Fiona, our three-year-old Pit bull mix was curled up on the back of the living room couch like a cat. While sitting I leaned back, using her rump as a pillow. A low grumbling of displeasure came from her, so I immediately sat back up to leave her be.
The news was on and it was hard to avoid the repeated failures of the CDC. Containment of the virus seemed futile as cases began to exponentially pop up up all over the U.S. after Black Friday. I shut the TV off in frustration and brought my attention down to my coffee table, which had a disassembled hunting rifle on it. In the corner of the table a mug of tea steeped with curls of steam rising.
I clicked on the radio receiver and turned it to 99.5 Boston Classical. Giovanni Gabrieli's Canzon Duo Decimi Toni filled the room with beauty, although Fiona seemed less impressed with the noise. As I carefully wiped down the rifle's bolt, she stretched out and pushed past me to get off the couch. She shook and clicked across the wood floor to the nearest window. She used the warmed baseboard heating as a step-up in order to look outside. After a moment I leaned forward and noticed that it was the season's first snowfall that had caught her eye. I walked over and stood motionless for a moment to see the snow building up fast and to see her eyes of curiosity meet mine.
I couldn't help but smile at least a little.
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| Photo by B. Cardoza (2013) |
-Written by Benjamin Cardoza
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