After I'm Gone

I was in a cloudy state of mind this morning having woken up in the middle of the night, but once I started walking with Lily in the cool sunshine I wanted to keep going. We went all the way down Rathbun Street taking a few side streets in Blackstone and then on the way back we stopped at Turbesi Park. Lily found an empty plastic bottle in the grass just before we entered the ball field. She carried it in her mouth. I think she likes them better than sticks or balls because they are lightweight and satisfyingly noisy when she bites down on them. When we got inside the field I blocked the entrance and exit with the big white plastic trash barrels and unhooked her leash. She ran full throttle with exuberance. It was a joy to watch. I think she really wanted to run after the long walk. She raced in large circles and then she slowed to a prance all the while carrying the empty plastic bottle in her mouth. After a few minutes she was done and it was time to go. On our way back I saw two elderly men talking to each other. One man had two Yorkies in tow, one on a leash and the other orbiting. The man with the dogs was talking to a man who was leaning over his car engine, checking the oil. He pulled out the dipstick and wiped it with a rag, examining it as they talked. I was eavesdropping from the opposite side of the street as Lily and I walked by. Both men had French-Canadian accents. "I'll have to leave it to one of my daughters after I'm gone," the oil-checking man said. "That won't be for a long, long time," the other man said. "I hope so," said the oil-checking man. I crossed the street into the church parking lot and the two big dogs in the yard behind the church followed us along the fence, barking. When Lily and I walked past Precious Blood Cemetery I noticed a path of plywood planks leading to a grave site. I saw the big orange digging machine poised over a rectangular hole in the ground. Talk radio was blaring out of the digging machine's cab. The radio voices were talking and laughing, disturbing the normally quiet cemetery. I looked for the grave digger to say hello, but he was already fifteen yards away, walking up the hill toward the cemetery garage.