Vibrant Village ™

This week I realized just how important two of my friends have become to me.

I can’t believe it's  taken me so long to recognize the extraordinary impact these two have had in the short time we have known each other.

Sharing a two-mile walk with both friends helped me see the obvious: I need these two to continue learning how to live. The three of us together seem to create a positive dynamic that is contagious and even stops traffic.

Of the two, Boguey has been my friend the longest.  He is a tall, elegant standard poodle with spring legs that bounce him through life. He reminds me of Kipling’s “elephant’s child” who has “satiable” curiosity, and he has taught me to walk slowly and stop often to check a baby turtle crossing a gravel road, chase a grasshopper, or check out a beer bottle on the verge. He models an attitude that I am learning to embrace-a lot of life is good if you live welcoming what comes next and finding comfort in everyday ritual.

Most important, Boguey has taught me what it means to love unconditionally. He comes close and leans against me even when I have left him at home for eight hours, fed him late, neglected his morning walk so I can sleep an extra hour, and brush his teeth with an annoying finger tooth brush.

Colton Avery has been my friend since January 1, 2010, the day he was born. I held my grandson an hour after he was born, and even thought I had planned not to surrender to the doting grandmother syndrome that has affected most of my friends, I was hooked in two minutes.

He too has taught me to slow down, sit, and savor the moment. As a type A personality, I have had a hard time accepting the idea that “doing” does not have more value than calmly living in the moment. Smelling the scent of baby powder as I give him a bottle and listening to his slow breathing of sleep while holding him while watching a heron walk through marsh grass in the pink light of early morning erases the “to do” list every time.

And having a baby relax in my arms with total trust is perhaps the purest form of unconditional love I have ever experienced. He needs to know nothing about my past life, makes no value judgments, could care less about my income, looks, or aspirations as long as his intuition identifies me as loving and part of his world.

I feel like I am learning to see the world “new” watching through Colton’s eyes. Sounds, colors, smells, tastes, and textures delight him, and watching him check out a new teething rattle reminds me to observe and use my senses to see the most ordinary things in a new light.

So I will remember the morning walk on a back road along Core Sound. The rising heat was carrying the gardenia’s scent down the road, and the light shimmered off Boguey’s coat as he walked beside the stroller without me having to tug on his leash, ignoring the “pee mail” like dew on the marsh grass.

Colton’s bare feet kicked in time with the squeak of the front left stroller wheel. His eyes followed Boguey’s bounce as two pelicans flew over the moving water.

A red pickup slowed down to keep from stirring up the dust as it started past us. The truck stopped beside us.  The driver's face was sunburned with morning stubble, a baseball cap topped his head as he leaned out the window and said, “You look happy.” Then he smiled and drove slowly around the curve.

I heard mature ospreys call to their fledglings and a tractor cutting hay. Colton reached out and the damp hand that had been in his mouth grabbed Boguey’s hair. Boguey looked over his shoulder with patient tolerance and keep walking.

The baby smiled at me when I leaned down to release his hand, and I realized that these two friends, child and dog, had given me the gift of a perfect moment.