Teensy Weensy Little Rhody

How many times have you met an attorney in a swamp? I have. Once. Today.

My bike rides take me off the paved path in Seekonk and East Providence. The trails I can ride on wind their way around a reservoir and swamp that encircles it. The tracks are about one foot wide and are filled with tree roots, stones, mud and what have you as well. I do this because riding the same old paved roads gets boring. Plus I really like the trees and the lake.

Here's a satellite shot of where I roam. The big red X is all goo, slime, frogs and mud.

I was peddling along a path when a guy passes me on his bike. He was decked out in a helmet, elbow and knee pads and an iPod strapped to his arm. I, of course, have none of this safety equipment because I grew up in an era where crashing your bike was a badge of honor.

As he passed me, on a trail about six inches above the mud, he yells out, “Hey Ronnie!”

As I passed him I think, “Huh?”

I had no idea who that was...and how would know anyone me in this mosquito filled mess?

I stop, then he stops, and we both turn to meet. I realize it's one of my attorneys I've used off and on again throughout the decades.

“Damn, Billy, you sure have some great recognition. I had no clue about you!” I say

We stand there, surrounded by the marsh and recount old times for a few minutes when he alerts me to fact he left his practice to pursue another avenue.

“Yep, I'm done with civil litigation for a bit. I'm managing a start up company that's going up against the toy maker Mattel. I haven't been paid in four months and probably the next four but if this works, we'll get into a niche Mattel has ignored for a while.”

“You burned your bridges huh?” I ask. What balls. He had a practice that wasn't doing too poorly either.

“Yeah, you could say that, but I told my partner he needs to move on as well. We're both getting bored with the same old cases.”

So for about twenty minutes, we discuss the likelihood of his representing a new company trying to push Mattel out of the way, how this can be done and which new markets they can exploit, all this while swatting mosquitoes in a quagmire.

I know Rhode Island is small, but Jesus, this small? I guess so. It's so small you can meet your own lawyer in a protected wetland!