a lesson in this thing called life.

********

do you ever wonder, upon rising from sleep, how your day will go? 

and do you ever stop to think upon it all, later in the day, 

why things happen in the manner they occur? 

i had spent most of three days alone and in silence, except to talk to the animals

and briefly speak in conversation on the phone. 

this morning, my head was spinning, trying to figure out the sequence of errands

for this saturday. 

i knew the last and most pleasant chore of the day would be to hike coyote hill

and tend to pencilfox acres garden. 

i knew this: 
there were so many variables in between 

drinking morning tea while feeding the animals their breakfast

and

meditatively tending to the garden. 

if the order of the day's events had been any different

i would not have met 

alexandre. 

he was standing on the side of the highway just past moose creek, 

thumb in the air to signal his need for a ride,

and as i drove past, i looked in the rearview mirror of the jeep. 

i saw the young man's head drop and shake, and i asked myself 

do i dare?

i stopped the jeep, turned around, pulled off into the gravel near where he stood,

rolled down my window 

and asked

are you carrying any weapons?

there was something about this young man's approach to the jeep 

as he left his backpack behind to walk up to my open window.

only bear spray

he said in an accent i could not identify. 

he grabbed his pack, walked to the back of the jeep, 

opened the door, and threw in his heavy black pack.

once he was sitting next to me, he said 

that's the first time i've ever been asked that question. 

we chatted the short six miles to sutton, 

exchanging quick stories of 

where are you from?

and

what are you doing here? 

alexandre carried about him the scent of woodsmoke and other strong odours,

all of them mixing and wafting through the air and into my sense of smell. 

i am from montreal, 

and i wanted to keep going north to experience solstice in the mountains. 

i pulled off at the scenic turnout overlooking the matanuska river. 

pointing to the various mountains, reciting the names. 

crag. 

king. 

pinnacle. 

castle. 

granite. 

eska. 

he told me of water that is bottled in quebec, 

eska water. 

upon reaching the point where i needed to turn and head home, 

i left alex to find his next ride.

he leaned into the jeep and smiled that smile. 

*

i don't know that all things happen for one particular reason or another, 

but i knew that today i did what i was supposed to do: 

be kind to another human being

and

learn a lesson about life. 

godspeed, alexandre:

it's a good life. 

********