A walk on the Wild Side

Today was the best of days one of the days you wish would be here soon, but when it arrived you wish it would pass so slowly it would last forever. I was to see my friend; a lot of water has gone under our bridges since we last saw each other earlier in the year, troubled waters, that even this freaky genius could not calm, reliant on the skill of others and the strength spirit of my friend. All I could do was send my love and positive thoughts and unerring confidence that everything was going to be alright.

We agreed to meet and walk along the shores of our river, I arranged for a dry morning (freaky genius at work again). The weather behaved and we set off with the sweeping wind billowing our hair, tugging at our jackets and flapping Flop’s ears as she cantered along the path every so often enjoying a dalliance onto the foreshore.

As we walked we talked about anything and everything laughing and enjoying each other’s company. Social media means we can chat everyday but it is not the same; the relief I felt seeing them in person is indescribable. We stood and watched the changing faces of our river as the clouds were driven over the hills that rise steeply from her banks. The river is a very special place for us both, it always will be, and there was no other place I would rather have been or no other person I would rather have shared that with today or any other day; I wish it could be so every day but sadly that is not to be.

All too soon our time was coming to an end; we left the beach and turned for home. Sadly my request for a portrait was denied, I would never have blipped that portrait simply a memory of our time together today. Flops was only slightly more accommodating every time the camera came out she headed for the nearest clump of undergrowth or tree. We stopped when she stopped and pointed, we were about to change from one path to another and as she was called she turned her beautiful head as if to say “who me”. I got two frames, she had been pointing, paw raised tail up, the first one very unflattering and this one with the look of distain.

She is a beautiful creature and she had a ball today bounding along the woodland paths and through the trees and it was lovely to watch her paddle in the puddles and standing water and in the process becoming covered in clart!

I followed my friend homeward our roads only diverging a short distance from home, a final glimpse and a cheeky wave and they disappeared from my view, my elation at having seen them tinged with a sadness at knowing I won’t see them for a while now but for those few hours today I was walking on air, the happiest man alive and so it will always be when I see their name on my phone as it gladdens my heart.

For my Friend…. Always