red2On the 4th of July, hubby and I went to the beach to watch the fireworks. We left early to await the sunset and went about consuming a great deal of junk food. Normally I try not to eat anything with a shelf life longer than mine, but it is a tradition.

The sunset was amazing, long wisps of pink and orange, purple running right down to the water. Across the bay you could see the occasional firework in the distance, much farther away than the ones we were waiting for, but still pretty.

It started to get chilly and we wanted to get comfortable, so we sat in his truck and listened to music. Hubby has a new truck or a newer one anyway, and it is full of bells and whistles. I was trying out the new seats which recline in half a dozen ways, up, down, lower back support, less firm here, more firm there, quite fun. So there is a slight possibility I was exploring each possible position several times. I looked over and heard hubby growl. He does growl you know, even though he claims he doesn’t. He barks sometimes too, but he seldom bites.

Anyway, I heard it again so I said, “Did you just growl at me?”

“I don’t growl,” he said.

Yes he does. He growls when he’s getting annoyed about something. I had no idea what was getting on his nerves, totally clueless, so I assumed it probably had something to do with the new No Parking sign we were now parked in front of. I’d already heard what he thought about the sign when we arrived and since we were parked right in front of it, I knew he wasn’t overly impressed.

A few moments pass and I heard that growl again but now his teeth are just barely showing in the twilight and suddenly I’m thinking wolves, werewolves perhaps, and wondering if it’s a full moon, so I reclined my seat back again so I could peer out the window and see if the moon was rising, try to check and see if my werewolf theory had any merit…..

redSuddenly he barks out, and he is definitely barking at this point, “Knock it off, you’re going to break my seats!” And then it dawns on me, he’s not a werewolf after all. He’s annoyed with me because I’ve been playing with his seats. Well duh! The poor guy has had four kids, a series of broken seats, torn off rear view mirrors, and just last week one of the guys he works with dented his door. My werewolf has post-traumatic-don’t mess-with-my-truck-stress.

“Oh my, what a manly bark you have there,” I said, with much admiration, which of course makes him laugh. I promise not to break his seats.

“You were growling so much I thought maybe you were just turning into a wolf, like Grandma did in Little Red Riding Hood,” I say.

“I don’t growl,” he says.

He does.

I just raise one eyebrow and look at him. At that very moment what comes on the radio, but Little Red Riding Hood.

“I don’t believe it….” he says.

“Believe it,” I tell him.

Synchronicity, it’s everywhere.  A gift from He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works…..

wolves