鈥淗ow was Spain?鈥� I asked my ol鈥� buddy Lamar. He鈥檚 been gone six months. We were on a walk along the FUTS not far from my house.
鈥淚t was good,鈥� he said. 鈥淛uanita鈥檚 family was very nice.鈥�
鈥淪ix months is a long time to be a houseguest.鈥�
Lamar chuckled. 鈥淵ou wouldn鈥檛 know it from how we were treated. We stayed with Juanita鈥檚 grandmother, Charro鈥檚 mom. It was cozy, but we spent a lot of time outside and the food was delicious.鈥�
"I can tell,鈥� I said.
He adjusted his waistband. 鈥淵eah, well, you try saying 鈥榥o鈥� to another helping of grandma鈥檚 paella, and then we鈥檒l talk.鈥� He nudged me with his elbow. 鈥淭hat guy over there with the dog.鈥�
The man he was pointing out was elderly, overweight, with sore knees. He had climbed out of a van with a dog on a leash. A younger woman followed. Immediately, the man struggled to control the dog, a muscular mixed breed with the broad chest and head of a pitbull.
His leash was a length of rope and a leather collar. The dog pulled the man toward the grass of the trailside park. The woman stood beside the van texting and ignoring the man鈥檚 struggle.
We slowed our walk.
The man jerked the dog repeatedly trying to get it to heel.
Lamar said, 鈥淲hat do you think?鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know. He鈥檚 not hitting the dog.鈥�
Lamar said, 鈥淪till tough to watch.鈥�
I鈥檓 so used to seeing dogs and their masters enjoying each another鈥檚 company along this trail that to witness an old-school 鈥渕aster and his beast鈥� dynamic was jarring.
The man shortened the leash and bent down to chastise the dog. Lamar and I walked by.
The man stood and half-smiled. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know who鈥檚 walking who.鈥�
Neither of us spoke and kept walking.
We forgot about Spain. We spent the remainder of our walk discussing the moral quandary the man and his dog presented to us.
鈥淲e shoulda said something,鈥� Lamar said.
鈥淲hat should we have said? 鈥楬ey @#$&$, stop abusing the dog?'鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know,鈥� Lamar shook his head. 鈥淢aybe something softer, like 鈥榃hat鈥檚 your dog鈥檚 name?鈥� Anything to get him to stop yanking that leash, without making things worse.鈥�
We continued to ponder the predicament as we walked out and back on the trail. We saw the man sitting on a bench. The woman sat apart under the shade of a tree, looking at her phone. The dog was beside her, chewing a stick.
鈥淗ow about that?鈥� Lamar said when we returned to my house. 鈥淚 feel like we just we just walked through the pages of a Flannery O鈥機onner short story.鈥�
The 23rd annual Flagstaff Folk Festival returns to the Coconino Center for the Arts and the Pioneer Museum June 14鈥�15. There are over 160 acts on six stages, including a performance by 鈥淔riends of Lamar鈥� on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on the Gregg Cabin Stage. Visit for more information.