Ritual Reflections

This is King's Point Inlet off of the big water portion of Lake Pokegama in Northern Minnesota. On most mornings, I find it to be a most peaceful and serene place where I can gather my thoughts. However, today, as I stood in the midst of this Zen-like beauty, I was as mad as a tempest in a tea pot. I sat by the shoreline on the verge of rage and with silly thoughts of revenge.

NOW....this gets long winded and I apologize but I need to get it off my chest. If you drop out here, you will not offend me. If you want to read on, read on. I am engaging in blip-therapy here.

Every morning I have ever been at the cabin - for the last twenty years - my dogs and I (and often Bonnie and the girls too) have followed a familiar path along the edge of this water. At the end of the shoreline, there is a very large rock on top which my pups and children climb and I stand below and blissfully watch them scamper about. For decades, we have done this walk as a ritual.....rain, snow or shine, hot or cold, dry or wet, even when I had broken my pelvis and had to do it with crutches. Without fail, at least the pups and I have set forth along these shores on our "Rock Walk". In fact, say the word "Rock Walk" and the dogs will dart to the door, ears squared, tails fanning about, crying like a baby cutting its first tooth. And, hence, DO NOT say Rock Walk unless you mean it because - should you say it and not mean it - the scorn of dogkind will be set upon your soul. To make the Rock Walk, we descend a small hill and go south along the water's edge, crossing in front of about 8 homes and cabins which are situated between us and the rock. The distance from the water to the homes is typically about 3/4 of a soccer field. The entire time, the dogs have always been unleashed, roaming about, and greeting other neighbors along the shore. Most neighbors know the pups by name.

Well, today, the ritual came to an apparent bloody end. This winter, a McMansion went up along the shoreline. It was the second home on the beach built since my parents built our cabin thirty years ago. The other, more recent one, is a humble footage which fits well with the lot. The Mc Mansion, on the other hand, is a home of high design and made from the finest of materials but it is massive and on the smallest lot on the beach, I might add. The man who built if fought the local zoning commission and used every single square inch of the permitted building envelope and it towers nearly 35 feet above the beach.It is far too large for the lot and stands out conspicuously from the other shelters in the vicinity. As I said, the house is fine....it just never should have been built on that lot. It is a bit like a voluptuous Italian woman in a pair of skinny jeans four sizes too small. Nothing is wrong with either the woman or the jeans....they just do not belong together.

But now to the point of this ramble. I was anxious to meet the man who made the decision to build this home and BOY OH BOY did I meet them today. As I was walking towards the rock, head down, scanning the shore for interesting shells, I heard one of my dogs squeal and come running towards me like a freight train with angst in her eyes. Chasing after her was Mr. McMansion with a rake screaming at me at the top of his lungs....."I am telling you ONE LAST TIME keep those God Damn dogs off of my lawn". Mind you, I had never met him before for he had not been present the last few days. He launched into to me with such rage and anger and hate that I was....for once in my life.....speach-less. "Sir, please don't raise your voice...you have never spoken to me before let alone about my dogs." I went on to say that I would turn around and that, had I known, I would have respected his boundaries. I spun on my heals with the dogs at my side.....head down and twenty years of flash backs blazing through my mind. But, he did not stop....the verbal carpet bombing continued with awful words to which I responded by saying......"sir, please, let me leave in peace."

I went back to the cabin and explained all that had happened to my wife and children. We sat, a bit devastated until I came up with the idea that we would try it again but, this time, we would do it as a family and with the dogs on a leash. Surely, this would work. Surely he just meant he did not want the dogs of leash. Surely, even a fucking moron with a big house could understand a family beach walk. Or so I thought. As we headed towards the rock and just before we crossed his property line, he ran down the sixty feet to the beach and started in on me again like there was no tomorrow. I will save you the details but it was ugly and involved hurting the dogs. I stopped before we crossed the line and I interrupted him long enough to ask his name. He would not give it to me until I said...."well, you should know my name then....I am Giacomo and I am sorry but I do not understand your issue". I went on to explain of the ritual and the way that this neighborhood worked. That there was an absence of both property lines and hatred in on this beach. But he wanted none of that and he started talking about restraining orders and the fact that he was not like all the people on this beach, to which I agreed and told him that he was not like us at all. But, before I left, I asked him, one more time, for his name. His names is Dave. I then told Dave that it his demeanor and his over-built home had already left an undeniable mark on this beach.

I have no issues with property lines or big houses or people who are not dog friendly. I can deal with all of that. But, I will never understand how people with this type of personality and interpersonal skills can live with themselves let alone others. The Southern Italian in me wants to tempt this issue again. However, the gentlemen in me will find a new rock down the shoreline in the opposite direction. I will leave Dave to his own state of dismal existence.

It turns out that this was the only place I blipped today for it was a day thrown off from the start. First, Mr McMansion then a call from the East Coast. I am now on a flight to Boston as I write this and still have not had a chance to catch up with you all. But, thank you for your comments and understanding.