my friend s. gave me this clay medallion in a grab bag for xmus. r. recognized it as part of a project by a friend who had traveled with his daughter over the great divide to the west coast, placing them along the way. 
s. didn't know, and i would not have known, unless r. knew, and i knew r. and it would have been a new meaning in a different context, and r. said it should have been out there on the trail, where it's meaning lay. but i will ponder it, knowing it's origin and intent, in the light of my context. and isn't context the same, with varying stories, that in some way converge? 

it says crossing the great divide <> measure of tolerance. l.michigan to the pacific.
let's say we're crossing the great divide now. without leaving home on the lake. let's say this father and daughter too did it for those who stayed. let's say what we do is for others. say we bring a measure of tolerance in trying situations in which we find ourselves. say with all this division we're a people. 
mister seems ok today after facing the wall in the corner at the end of my bed by the closet last night. but it's damp and maybe his arthritis is wooing. and he's dreamy. maybe he had dreams and then the rain got in his bones. we didn't go far, just to harry at open produce, who talked about underdogs with mister laying at his feet, and got his loved collard greens. and there and back i noticed no smiles but people hurrying with no time for dreaming dogs.
say the medallion travels back home.