Post #18: The Road (or rather, Train Tracks) Not Taken

I think that I am going to "go this way," or write about the train tracks pictured on the course blog because, as I wasn't quite sure what to talk about, that picture seemed welcoming and somewhat familiar to me.

Those train tracks look exactly like the ones by my house, or rather, my parents' house, near the Huron River on the north-west region of Ann Arbor.  It's where my mom used to take my dog, Misty, for walks, and boy, did she love playing in the river.  My mom would go with some of her friends and their dogs sometimes, and occasionally, I would go with them.  It was fun to watch Misty and the other dogs play in the water; well, Misty didn't really play, she more just dipped in and out, as she was afraid of the floating twigs and rare waves that would flow by.  But, she did love to get wet, and that made for a great mess.  But she enjoyed herself, and that was all that mattered.

I remember another time when we took Misty to the train tracks--my mom's friend from work came to take professional photos of me and my brother, and we walked the short distance to the Huron River because it made for a pretty background.  My mom and brother were with the photographer over on the bridge while I was holding Misty on a leash near the train tracks; we were just wandering around and exploring when suddenly, a train came by.  I admit, I was a little unsettled, being so close to the train and hearing its extremely loud chugging, but she was totally freaked.  Now Misty, when she got scared, she froze in place, and you could practically hear her heart thumping.  In fact, in that moment, I could practically hear her heart thumping.  She was okay, just shocked.

On her last day, that's where we took her; to the Huron River and those train tracks.  I think that that was her favorite place, one that she knew and yet could always be exploring.  I was--am--really glad that she got to go there again.  We still haven't done anything with Misty's ashes, but I want to put them there, by the tracks and plants, even in the water.  We thought about burying them in our yard, under a little memorial stone, but I don't want to do that.  She deserves to be where she loved, in the Huron River, in the grass that grows tall, and by those train tracks.