Humming and hissing. . .

Humming and hissing of the grass never ceases. Toads are deep like faraway tribal drums and sometimes they sound like cows. There are cows also, of course, adding to the chorus. As night closes in the sounds get louder. Lightning bugs spark.  Coyotes cry with wild cackling, yip, yip, yipping abandon.  Wild dogs gather in the dark forest and have the loneliest howls. A Wild dog howling is distinctly different from tamed domestic dogs. Theirs is like a lost tribe calling for their ancestors. High pitched and yearning. The bugs in the grass never stop and occasionally an Armadillo whistle punctuates the hum.  By sunrise the dogs and coyotes stop but the ever present hum continues.

On a morning like this, Sarah's neighbor, Leroy, came by to visit his dog Sally, who was recouping in the carport after being fixed. She needed a place to rest where their other dog would not bother her. Sally is a Cane Corso. She looks mean, sounds mean but she is sweetness defined.  I admit I was wary of her at first but we quickly befriended each other.

Leroy and Sarah talked about the temperature for a while and then Sarah mentioned that Geraldine needed help moving the coffin in her living room to Louisiana for John’s funeral.

With a touch of superstition Leroy said, "I ain't have nuthin' to do with a coffin," and then earnestly he went on, "God be my witness I'm a good man and I'll help anybody but I don't want to move no coffin."

He kept going, looking up to heaven or sky he pounded his heart with both hands and proclaimed, " My name is Leroy and I'll help anybody."

I felt a huge catch in my throat.

As Leroy got back in his truck he said to Sarah, " I appreciate you to the highest Miss Sarah. I love you Miss Sarah, " and again he pounded his fist to his chest and thanked her again for caring for Sally.

He drove up the driveway, directly across the road home. He only lives across from us.

It’s hard to imagine anyone in California as thankful to a neighbor as that.

Leroy and his wife are neighbors they both grew up in the area. Prejudice still lurks and he was afraid the vet didn't like black folks bringing their pets in, so Sarah helped them out with that sometimes. After Leroy left I quietly cried from witnessing his earnestness, gratefulness and I was saddened about the damn racist God fearing Southerners that still hold on to those old attitudes.

~kao

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