Hiking Skyward

It started with heartache. I made the climb with one good friend who knew me to be sad. It was July; Cleveland Sage had flowered. We walked up and up because we thought that we could make it. We were slow: me, my friend, and my tired dog. We did this often, on weekends and after work. We walked through the dirt and past-prime blossoms, the brown of what to say. It didn’t seem anything was ahead. Months passed and grew green. We’d meet off Laguna Canyon Road — more …