The weekend I got Mycroft (October 2nd) was also the weekend of Korean Thanksgiving. I had a five day weekend which was really great. That Saturday (the 3rd) Mycroft and I went into the woods for a hike. That hike is something I don't think I'll ever forget. Not because the weather was perfect but because of what happened.
It was Mycroft and my first hike together. We walked a long way to try and find a trail that led up into the mountains. We finally did and down near the bottom we ran into this old Korean man. I think he was in his 50s or 60s and he didn't speak a word of English and my Korean is limited to goodbye and thank you. Yet, he couldn't get enough of Mycroft. I sat down next to him and he just started grinning this infectious grin, chatting to Mycroft, and laughing up a storm while petting him. It really was the sweetest thing and quite striking simply because of how most Koreans react to larger dogs. It was so atypical.
After I gave him a bit of a dog trick show and we played tug with Mycroft's towel tug toy I made he made a gesture as if to ask if I was going up the mountain. I nodded yes and next thing I knew I had a hiking companion. The day really was perfect - sunny, warm, and with just the right breeze. It was all uphill so every now and then we'd end up finding a nice place to sit down and rest. Then the man would play with Mycroft. That tug toy got thrown for Mycroft to fetch more times than I can count and the man laughed and grinned the entire time. He was having an absolute ball playing with my dog. I can't really convey how infectious he was. He'd start grinning and laughing and I'd find myself doing the same.
We climbed all over that mountain that day. He found some grass at one of our stops and braided it into three separate braids - one for me, him, and Mycroft - which he left growing on the mountainside. Maybe it was for good luck.
We didn't really talk. Well, he talked in Korean a lot and I did a lot of smiling and nodding. We mainly used basic sort of sign language. He made eating motions and that way he asked me if I wanted to eat. I wasn't sure if he was inviting me down to town for lunch or not but it turned out that he was inviting me to eat on the mountain. About an hour or two after he asked we found ourselves walking into a little lunch cafe on the side of a mountain. Korea has a ton of backpackers and the trails were hopping. Some enterprising folks had hiked in camp tables and chairs as well as raman, some basic sides (including tiny dried herring the size of minnows I fell in love with), and this funky white drink that looked like milk but was either carbonated or beer of some sort (which I didn't much like but it was wet).
I ended up getting a raman and we split one of those white drinks which was poured into bowls. Mycroft got tied to a tree nearby but don't think he was forgotten. One man brought him water in a cup and my hiking partner fed him tons of those little fish as snacks and I gave him a hard boiled egg (popular side dishes and even sold by street vendors). We sat and ate and felt the breeze and every few minutes Mycroft would get another treat.
After lunch we headed back to the trails. I had no clue where we were but was happy enough to follow him. It was getting late so I motioned back to the town and so we started our way back. But, on the way we came to what I think was the top of the mountain. The path to get up it was REALLY steep and you literally had to scramble up boulders. I expected Mycroft to balk but that dog didn't bat his eyelash but instead tackled them like a veteran mountain climbing dog. It was narrow, it was twisting, it was not far from vertical but we climbed that mountain trail and came out on the top with a fantastic view.
After the mountaintop it was getting late and so we really started going downhill, slipping and sliding, pulled along by a very happy dog. We laughed still at all our close escapes and grabbed tree trunks to stop ourselves from going head over heels. We found this little park where we sat by a waterfall for awhile before heading back into town. We hugged one another goodbye and then, 6 hours after Mycroft and I started, we went home.
I don't even know the man's name and I doubt I could pronounce it even if I could. But I certainly won't forget him. It was one of those unexpected days that stick in your memory simply because of kindness found when not looking. Mycroft and I could have taken that hike by ourselves but it was made so much richer by an unknown stranger who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. It was a meeting that could have been missed so easily. But I saw the man smile at my dog and we went over to say hello. Sometimes, that's all it takes.
That whole day put me in a philosophical mood and I often think back on it and smile. Neither of us spoke the same language but laughter needs no translation and a black and white dog brought two strangers together for a very special thanksgiving day. Instead of turkey I had raman on a mountainside but I wouldn't trade it for all the turkeys in America.
I wonder how many of those special moments we end up missing because we are in such a hurry we just pass them by. We don't even see them or think to look for them. How much richer would our lives be if we just let go of all the crap and clutter and took our dogs for a walk on the mountain - figuratively and physically.
I met a man on the mountainside who laughed at my dog and it made more of an impact than the National Museum and Changdeokgung Palace. When I think of Korea I'll always see him sitting on the mountainside and grinning. I'll be going back and take Mycroft with me. Perhaps that's what an angel is. A person who shows up unexpectedly and makes a difference and then vanishes as quickly as they came.
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