I went walking in the woods today, as I am apt to do in April. I walk with my gaze to the ground, looking for the morels that either are not there or that I do not see. There is a smallish copse of trees at the bottom of the neighbor’s lawn, and having finished looking there, I emerged into a cleared gas-line right-of-way. From this cleared area, I looked up the hill at the former home of my old friend, Paul Bennett, built by him when he first came to Granville to teach at Denison.
I think of Paul every so often. It’s nice to know that Paul had famous friends – Eudora Welty and Gary Snyder are two – but I prefer to remember Paul’s affection for his neighbors and their children, and his great love for his black-and-tan hound, Rudy.
The neighborhood children loved Paul, and when it was Halloween, gladly visited Paul, despite the fact that they knew they would receive no candy, but…an apple.
Paul’s dog Rudy (a black-and-tan hound, because Paul would have no other kind) was a neighborhood favorite. He visited our house almost every day, and I’m sure, many others. He was looking for sociability, and maybe treats, as well. Paul worried about Rudy running on Burg Street, and sure enough, he was eventually hit by a car. Paul gathered him on a trash can lid to take him to the vet, and Rudy was thereafter on house arrest – unless he could escape. One warm afternoon I had removed a brown sweater-vest I had worn in the cool morning and left it on our porch. Rudy snatched it and carried it off. I’m sure he thought that was very funny. If someone said they had seen Rudy, I would always ask if he was wearing my sweater.
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