The Last Day, Yesterday

Yesterday was the last day or so it

seemed to be, a Saturday, one of the

many I have seen. A beautiful buck

deer galloped up the hill not more

than 20-yards in front of me. (Sort of an

unusual sight in the midst of the big city

in which I live.) My two small dogs

barked fiercely at the intruder. And had

they not been securely leashed, they

would have most certainly given chase.

Now, mind you, never in a thousand

years could they have caught up to that

fleet-hoofed critter. Even had they been

able, what would they have done with an

animal 20-times their size? Instinct, the

primordial wolf in them erupted for the

moment, belying their long reputation as a

genteel domesticated species. Nowadays,

they are more accustomed to Kibbles and

Bits with a liberal layer of baked chicken

at meal time. As for me, most of my ancestors

gave up the spear and hunting for food in the

wild generations ago. I now view nature with a

more humane and admirable consideration.

That was yesterday, the last day in a long line

of many. Today, Sunday, begins a new week

for me. So, here I sit in my back yard, casting

yet another watchful eye, my dogs ever at the

ready to sound the alarm and bark at something

new. Down boy, that’s just an old wadded-up

paper sack blowing in the wind.

Chris Hanch 2-4-18