A Three-Legged Dog in Carmel

Six months ago, I found myself alone on a bench.

“Tomorrow is my sister’s birthday, on the right coast of the country, far away from the left coast where I have lived the past three years. Since the day my sister decided to say hello to this world, June 6 has been a really special one for me. Something good always seems to happen.

I am sitting on a bench in Carmel, CA on Scenic Drive where it meets Martin Way, all by myself watching the waves on a beach and a three-legged dog trying to run with his friends. She’s hopping and trying as best she can, but she can’t run with the big dogs. I’ve a feeling she has a strength that cannot be measured but will manifest itself when it’s needed.

I’m a three-legged dog under the big blue sky
On the beach fighting for the little guy.
“I don’t like bullies; I don’t care where they’re from.”
Say it again. Captain America. Ready for a scrum.

I couldn’t help it. How could anyone!?! They looked so happy, the dogs and their owner. So I jumped out into the ocean. Too far it seemed for a moment, as the Pacific rushed in, took hold and drenched me. As I laughed inside, salt water on my tongue, body wet, I couldn’t help but smile. Life is good.

I’ll never tire the smell of the ocean. It smells so… Good. I imagine someday I’ll miss it terribly. Unless I get a house by the sea of course. The waves in Carmel might be the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. It’s certainly one of the most beautifully violent. Surfers ride its waves in the distance as I contemplate the last time I tried swimming in a pool, laughing at the thought.

And then that three-legged dog once again pops into my head, while I drive away.”