Earthlings

The room smelled like onions so I checked the basket of hanging onions for rot, the onions were healthy. I opened the windows and turned on the fan. Then later I found a sliver of red onion on the floor in the other room, next to the trash can. How how did the scent of that tiny piece of onion fill the back room?

Yesterday on my walk with Romeo dog, I saw two people on Roland Street sitting on the steps of their front porch in the shade of two gorgeous cherry trees. There was a small stone Buddha in the yard. In their picture window was a photo of a face, a smiling woman pasted on a box with plastic red roses poking out the top.

This is a beautiful spot, I said. Yes, my sister used to love it. She'd come here to meditate, the man said. His mouth resembled that of the lady on the box. Is that your sister? I said pointing to the photo on the box? Yes, she died recently. She was beautiful on the inside and out. Now she's with the angels, the mother added. 

I'm sorry, I know what it's like to lose a family member. We were all quiet. Then Romeo went into their bushes and pooped a tiny amount. I had used my three bags. I'm so embarrassed, I just used up my bag on the last one. They laughed and said, We know. We have dogs. Hold on a minute we'll get you one. The mother gave me a bag and then she said, let me take it, the trash bin is right here.

This morning I looked out and saw a father and seven year old son at 6AM packing for an adventure in their big silver jeep. The father had a colorful shirt with a big wheeled jeep on it. 

The other morning I heard music blasting out of Stella's old garage. It was 6:30 AM. As I turned the corner I saw a woman inside the garage, running in the dark on a treadmill.