Pet Peeves

0
462

Up the Creek

By Mark D. Crantz
By Mark D. Crantz

I have a new dog, Poppy. I give credit for this column to my old dog, Pokey. She’s my muse and the canine to blame when you disagree with what I’ve written. Says so at the bottom of every article. Pokey gets a lot of mail. “I can’t believe you had to live with this owner,” wrote one reader. “If we had known about your predicament, Pokey, we would have rescued you,” said another.

Enough already. Both Pokey and Poppy are wildly popular. I haven’t gone anywhere in years without daily interruptions of, “That’s a beautiful dog. What’s it doing with you?” Greets and meets depress me. I usually position myself 10 or 15 feet away and let my wife handle things. She’s good at it. “Yes, that’s my husband over there,” she explains. “He’s shy. He’s a rescue husband from the third chance program. He was badly treated before by several exes. He’s coming around, though. It just takes time.”

This brings me to the recent Indy article about the Laguna Creek, long referred to as the “Ditch.” It’s a creek that runs from the 405 alongside Laguna Canyon Road to Main Beach. For the last several miles it’s concreted over and morphs into a drainage ditch with the usual garbage and flotsam thrown in to cement its urban neglected image.

That’s me. I’m this ditch. I started out life as a creek. I was a little guy. Later, I became a babbling brook and had high hopes to cut a wider path through life. A few times the gods of fortune would rain down on me and swell my hopes only to be dashed by dry spells that never seemed to end. The longer I had to go without natural momentum the farther away it takes me from the beach life I once had envisioned. Mistakes and regrets piled up and hardened any resolve to deal with them. (Pause) Do you feel sorry for me, yet? Good. Cry me a river. Have a Kleenex.

I looked up. I was crossing the bridge at the Dog Park. Poppy pulled at the leash with unbridled anticipation of good times and company just ahead. I looked down at the creek and thought of the Laguna people who wanted to make the ditch better and the resolve it would take to make it happen. My spirits lifted and I thought maybe the ditch’s third chance program is just around the river’s bend.

I wish everyone trying to improve the “ditch” great success. It seems to me that you may be the first Lagunans to be up the creek with a paddle. Have a safe voyage to the sea. Your adventure is inspiring and appreciated from one ditch to another.

 

Mark is a transplant to Laguna from Chicago. He occasionally writes the guest column “Pet Peeves.” His recently deceased Border collie, Pokey, is his muse and ghostwriter.

 

 

 

 

Share this:

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here