Predawn Dan…

I got to see Dumpster Diving Dan early this morning on my wakeup walk down to the shopping center for a can of soda. He was out and about starting his usual rounds as he is every morning. He says he must get to the dumpsters early while it is cool so the food will not have spoiled. Overripe fruit was the dumpster food du jour of the day. Dan was going to make preserves and jellies out of it.

“Go look in my truck,” Dan told me.

I walked over to Dan’s Toyota Tacoma pickup to look inside his driver’s side window. There was a very little short haired dog about the size of a Chihuahua sitting on the seat.

“He’s tiny,” I replied. “And so cute.”

“It’s a she and I have named her Half Pint,” He replied. “I found her abandoned in the dumpster behind the dollar store the other day.”

I opened Dan’s door, picked up the small dog, and cradled it in my arms. It was shivering fiercely. I tried to warm her.

“She’s freezing cold Dan,” I said worried.

“Yeah, I know. I won’t be long then we will warm up as I drive over to feed the seagulls at daybreak,” He replied.

“Look at this!!!” Dan then hollered out excitedly from within the dumpster illuminated by the harsh glow of the street light overhead. “A whole pallet of molded strawberries!”

“How appetizing,” I thought to myself amused, but didn’t say it so as not to hurt Dan’s feelings.

“I will take out all the moldy ones and this will make wonderful preserves for the winter; enough to spread on my biscuits for months,” Dan said.

I then told Dan to drive by my house this afternoon to pick up this week’s bag of Chef Boyardee canned pasta and he said he would be by after his nap. My mother still buys it for me every Monday and I always just give it to him as I can’t eat that unhealthy and unappetizing stuff any longer. Dan loves it and is so appreciative to get it.

I left Dan to finish his diving and walked on around to the front of the shopping center. I bought my 30 cent can of soda and sat upon Big S’s old bench as I drank it shivering myself. Hot coffee would have been a better beverage choice and I headed on home to start a pot and begin another wonderful day of living my charmed life as it is these days. I really have been happy and felt well, for me, these past weeks. I keep worrying it is the calm before the proverbial mental health storm and the shit is going to hit the fan any day. Let’s enjoy it while it lasts.