Columbusdelphia / In the City's Shadow

All is well on the Midwestern front this brisk, rainy autumn eve in my wonderful home. The Elm tree is finally just about bare, and soon very soon my yard will be leafless. They’re calling for snow flurries over the weekend, which is just what you expect here in my hometown. It’s one of those odd cities in America where we do still get four seasons, however every year Summer and Winter seem to last longer and come earlier than ever. Oh but yes, soon, and very soon the snow will blanket the ground and Old Man Winter will show his face to the Buckeye State once again.

It should be a quiet weekend at home with the wife, the two felines and Matilda, our Welsh Corgi. There are plenty of songs to be sung, drinks to be had and moments to be shared. Its the perfect weekend to curl up on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa, a decent book and celebrate life.

Now I make mention of the other members of our home, the real rulers of the roost if you will. There is of course, my wife’s pride and joy, our six month old Welsh Corgi, Matilda. She very well may be the most rotten thing you’ve ever laid eyes on, however it’s impossible to stay angry at her, with her large ears that look slightly like over sized elm leaves, her short stubby legs – like the legs on my grandfather step stool, or the stub to where her tail used to be until it was docked as a baby. Many a nights, Matilda, or Maddie if you will, have spent in this very room of our home, rounding out the midnight hours as my wife dozes to sleep in the other room. I know Maddie is sleepy, she can barely hold her head up, her ears lose some of the perk that they had just hours ago, but she keeps her eyes on me – being sure that she doesn’t miss a moment of our time together. If I catch her dozing off, she’ll quickly lift her eyes to look at me, sort of how my grandfather did all those late nights on the farm. After a hard days work, all he would want to do was be in the same room with me as I watched TV. He couldn’t stay awake, but he did. Because he cherished his time with me. I tend to believe Matlida cherishes her time with me.

We tend to have one sided conversations about a great flurry of things, ranging from the Boston Red Sox, to theology to politics (although, I tend to believe Matlida very well may be liberal. She’s just afraid to tell me). She just stares at me when I talk, with her tongue hanging slightly out of the side of her mouth, sort of like “Ed” from “The Lion King”. We share a special bond. She is my dog. I am her master. She is loyal, through and through. With everything that has happened in my life in the last several months, her loyalty means a lot.

As I suspected, The time has come and Matilda no longer seems to want to discuss the long debated, and oft on my mind topic of “How does Socialism fit into the Kingdom of God here on earth”. It’s time for us to end the night. Here eyes are heavy. Her ears have fallen – and right about now I know she’s thinking, “Dear God, can we just talk about baseball again?”

Oh Matilda.