The Andes are a lot like the Alps in that the most profound part of being here is that they're all around you.
The Andes are verdant as well, green right to their tops with a stubborn wet green that defies mudslides, earthquakes, and the runoff of the rains.
We watched women craft expertly today and took in two minor ruins.
There was enough stairs to bode I'll for tomorrow and make me feel altitude shortness of breath.
The mountains were cut out of the sunset though.
I tried to save a dog tonight and just got the call from his owner that internal damage from being hit by a car was too much. He died in her arms at the vet, humanely and not in too much pain. When she cried he whined and tried to make her feel better. It was a coincidence that I drove by and saw the little knot of people standing around him stupidly after the accident. The driver was shaken up and in a hurry, with his wife and 3 kids crying in the car. The onlookers by some miracle of country luck knew the owner and shared her number as they loaded him in my car wrapped in a blanket. He kept trying to sit up and his breathing was labored. He let me touch his head and didn't try to eat the cats. I had my own brood in the car following a weekend sacked out at my inlaws place.
ReplyDeleteAt least he had a quick and painless end and she had the surety of knowing what happened. She won't spend long nights calling him home. Of course I wish I could fix all that is broken, but sometimes all you can do is give a damn and you're doing all right.
I give a damn.