Things to see on SJI

There's more to see on San Juan Island than is dreamed of in our philosophies.

This is Mona. Mona loves blackberries. That's Meredith in the background, picking them and in the middle, hoping Mona doesn't try to eat my shirt, is me.


This is the house of a friend of Robin's. He grows bamboo, makes lovely bridges and grows a great garden.
Made the house, too.



Satchmo, will not be seen because we took not a camera on the walk we took that passed his house.
Satchmo is a bear shaped, bear sized and bear colored dog who sometimes accompanies Robin's walks.
Robin has written a poem.

Satchmo

He sits in the road
for I don't know how long
looking at I don't know what.

On my daily walk
I round the corner
and he's sitting there as usual.

Looking right at me,
he begins to wag his tail.
"Hey, Satchmo," I call.

Because he's eleven
it takes a few secs
to heft his 70 or so pounds.

But once up,
he comes exuberating,
full speed, toward me.

If he were a child,
I'd call it "skipping"
If a horse, "prancing".

But he's a dog,
so I say his happy paws
are "exuberating"!

Big, shaggy and black,
except for the tips of his paws,
which are shaggy and white,


he arrives at my feet and sits,
leaning his full bulk
against my right leg.

His thick, bushy tail
swishes back and forth
across my left shoe

as I skritch his ears
crooning to him about
what a good beast he is.

We are together like that
for awhile, just the two of us
along the winding road.

With perfect synchronicity,
we both tire of each other
at about the same time.

Satchmo, with a last glance
at my face and a final swoosh
of his tail, gets up and

saunters across the road
to read the signpost in the grass
and mark that we were there

I continue up the road
not outwardly skipping
but lifting my inner feet,

pleased with the moment,
the road, Satchmo, myself
and life in general.

-Robin Atkins @ 2009.

My sister's dog, Layla, wrote a poem.

I think not too many animals write poems, or if they do, it's about food, killing other species, and doing things in the neighbor's yard.

Layla was of indeterminate parentage but had the coloring, size and personality of a golden lab, as I recall.

Anyway, my sister translated it, and here it is.

TO THE BEACH
by Layla

The Bitch/ Man
Took us to the
Soft ground
and big wet

We did stick
and dig
and bird go
Muppet played bark

Many smells were ours
The moving nothing was cool
and the soft ground
was warm

There were no NO's
and our tongues laughed

Muppet was another dog in the family, looked like a foot stool.
They were both getting along in years and are now ex canis.

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