Santa Nella

Our first trip down the valley without the old dog. We’ll stay at Motel 6, our home away from home, a place that welcomes pets. Remember the time, on a different schedule, we stopped here mid-afternoon to let the dog run among tumbleweeds and wind, safe from traffic on the motel-side of a chainlink fence. The old dog did his business, then took off at a ragged trot for “his” motel room: small rented space full of the scents of strangers and maybe a hint of our own scent, left over from the last trip. His scent, too; a bit of his brief life spent. We called and called, our voices almost lost to an old dog ready to lie down. Tonight we’ll stay at Motel 6. We’ll listen to traffic on the other side of chainlink fence, and a wind that’s full of scents and woofs and voices.