The Almost-Last Word
A Blessing for Saint Francis Day*
So I was walking Tobi--that's Miss Toblerone of Fallengutter, the world's smartest and most beautiful Alaskan Malamute tm --this morning. It was a little foggy over the Hudson, a little damp, but still lovely in the way that the painters of the Hudson River School knew.
Down the street a few houses was Mrs. Ashton, a lady of some decades' experience beyond my own and a faithful member of St. Peter's here, picking up the morning papers. And of course Tobi had to greet her, with her plume of a tail flying happily behind.
Then up pulled the Peekskill Animal Control officer--"Officer Doggie," as fellow resident Ana Hernandez calls him--with his extremely professional and focused partner Officer Basil, or "Bay" for short, a dedicated Border Collie whose skill in chasing Canada geese off the public ways is unmatched in all the Hudson Valley. Tobi ran for the van, greeting the two-legged officer with a respectful lick and being rewarded in return with a tasty biscuit, then touched noses with Officer Bay.
"And has Bay been blessed this week?" "No," said Bay's partner. "We live up in Dutchess County now, and I wasn't able to bring her for blessing." "Well, let's do it right now," I said, since I was in full morning dogwalking clericals: a bright gold Episcopal Church t-shirt and black sweatpants. And there on Elm Street, under a towering oak tree, with Mrs. Ashton and Officer Doggie and Miss Toblerone standing witness, I blessed the Peekskill Police Department's Officer Bay and kissed her head.
And Francis and all the saints smiled for the joy of Incarnation in this place.
Have a blessed St. Francis' Day, all, and remember the poor--all of them.