The other day, I was called upon to drive downcoast to an animal hospital to take an animal, in this case, a hamster, to…the hospital (Bat and his Bell weren’t around to pop over the coast range to the hospital in the central valley). This task—more like an opportunity, given how we, here in the middle of the end of the continent, view helping someone in need—gave me a chance to visit with my friend and neighbor, Samuel.