doves in the cemetary

Yuma, Arizona. My new home, for now. A very hot place in the summer.
I've been getting up early and going running, because the mornings here are beautiful, and really the only bearable time of day. It's breezy and bright and somewhat cool. I'd passed the Yuma cemetary several times, and it looked so interesting, so this morning I ran over there and walked around. It was around 6:30am, the sun was bright, there was a cool breeze, and I was all alone in this cemetary on the top of a hill. Gravestones stretched out in front of me in a vast expanse. This is the "poor" side of the cemetary- through a gate to the south is a vast green field with endless rows of neat plaques and fake flower bouquets, where people with more money are buried in serene respectability. But on this side, people can put up whatever grave marker they want or can afford, from a bare wooden post to a stone marker with a glass fronted case full of photos set in an enclosed area with sprinklers to keep the grass perpetually green. There's bare cement slabs with names written in marker, shabby wooden crosses like those ones you see by the highway, decorated with ribbons and fake flowers; there's simple metal plaques with the names of WWII veterans; and then family plots with statues of Mary and flowery poems in Spanish and more extensive structures. I love cemetaries. I wandered along the dusty paths surrounded by Redondo and Mendoza and Rodriguez for an hour. There was a flock of doves- must have been a hundred of them- and they settled and rose in a white cloud among the crosses. I've never seen real doves up close like that. That walk through the cemetary was so peaceful and beautiful.
Later in the morning, after breakfast and some bar studying, I came outside and met Charlie, the son of the landlord, a skinny guy with skin stretched tight over his face and a nervous energy. He came in to lower my water heater temp- I'm really considering turning it off, since I see no need for hot water when it's in the triple digits outside. Anyway, he and his buddy were hilarious. Charlie kept up a constant stream of chatter while he was adjusting the water heater. "hey, I like that scooter, how much did you pay for it? I have a buddy who got one for 50 cents from this woman who was getting divorced, she sold it for spite. Wow, look how dirty this water heater is. If I had known I would have cleaned it. I've learned all about rentals from my mom. I'm so worried about her, she just had heart surgery, gave us all a scare. Hey, look at that doorframe, I need to work on that. Your air conditioning working ok? Good. Now I'm not going to touch this wire with my wet hands. You know, I was going to get this great job working with trucks, but I got stuck on some 220 and it scared me good. I wouldn't even plug in a lamp after that. I just couldn't let go of it. But I wouldn't take disability. No, I like to work. Matter of fact, I'm not a gambling addict, but I sure do like the Paradise (casino). And they like me too- I win all the time. I just won $75. Last year I won $4000 but I got hit hard with taxes. " And on and on... I sure have met a lot of characters here already. And I've only been here a week.