saturday night
dark, windy and wild outside
rain, like pebbles against the windows
kids and our neighbor playing gmes and listening to music
chaco chewing a rawhide
ben in his garage talking on the phone
me at the oak table in the middle of it all
with a cup of ginger lemon tea
cozy
we spent most of the day at a football jamoboree,
watching isaac and his teammates play
mostly in the sunshine
we drove home back into the grey, wild sky
i put on wool socks and a wool hat, my rain pants, jacket, and boots
and chaco and i went for a wander
we walked into the wind
chaco did his hunting sweeps
i breathed wild, wet air while raindrops pelted my cheeks and rain gear
chaco crested a hill before me and froze
nose to the wind, tail straight out
i joined him on the hilltop and watched four deer lift white tails
i told chaco to stick by me
we watched the deer bound off into the twilight
chaco and i turned the other way and made our way through sage and over strewn cottonwood leaves
down to the river
i looked for belamnites and baculites like i always do
chaco ran in and out of the river
and even plunged in for a full-blown swim
i snapped some pictures
and found two baculite remnants and one belamnite section {buffalo stone}
we turned home and walked quickly
pushed by wind and darkness and flying raindrops
into the warmth of home and supper and people and tea