The sun is out!

Hot dog. Yesterday the fog never seemed to burn off. Not that I mind really. I much prefer walking on the beach with Charlie when it's not crowded and not too hot. Although, yesterday, we really took a walk. I've never seen the tide so low. There were all kinds of rocks and tide pools and creatures in the tide pools that I don't usually get to see.

So, we just kept walking. We had gone about 2 miles when I realized that perhaps my buddy's little legs were getting tired, so we turned around. After we had walked about halfway back, we ran into Sadie, a Shepherd mix, who is one of Charlie's oldest friends. Her people, Joel and Rebecca were with her too. So, of course, we turned around and walked with them. So, a total of 5-6 miles were covered.

After we got home, and Charlie was washed off (he does not like getting washed), he came in, jumped on the couch, and passed out for a few hours. We're going back today, because the tide is still quite low, but we won't cover that much ground.

Walking on the beach with my dog is one of my greatest pleasures right now. It seems like such a simple thing, but the way he takes off when I take him off the leash, it just makes me happy. He loves to run around and play with the other dogs, and I seem to always run into someone I know.

I just realized that you don't see many perfect purebred dogs down there, maybe because the owners don't want their doggies to get dirty? I don't know. It just seems that everyone is more friendlier when they have a romping pooch to keep track of. And, it's hard to be snobbish when you are carrying a bag of dog doo. Last summer, Charlie and I went to the beach almost every day.

I've never looked at a beach/shoreline as closely before. Of course, growing up on the California coast, I went to the beach quite often, but not like this. In junior high, we would ride the bus to Goleta Beach, set up our towels, put on our coppertone, and swim to the buoys (gosh, that's a hard word to spell). I didn't walk anywhere except to the snack bar to buy popsicles and corn chips.

It's a wonderful thing to see how the seasons change things. A winter beach is very different from a summer beach. In the winter, the rocks are exposed, the water is less clear, and this year, several trees lost their hold on the earth and fell on the beach from the cliffs above. Some days, seaweed is all over the place, other days, none. Once in a while, there's "grunge." That's what my mom and dad called it. They were big shell collectors in their day, and they were happy when we found a beach with grunge. It's the very small but plentiful bits of rock and shell and sea glass that sometimes gathers at the edge of the surf. I'd love to know why it's there sometimes, and othertimes not. As a kid, I'd search grunge for an hour, picking up tiny shells to put in my ziplock baggie.

I still collect sea glass and rocks I think are neat. Someday I'll make a frame for Charlie's picture with the sea glass. Although, right now most of what I've collected is behind the bureau in my bedroom. I knocked over the abalone shell in which I keep all of it, and have been too lazy to move the furniture and pick up all the pieces.

Back to the beach. Of course there are always sea gulls and sandpipers. Charlie loves to chase and annoy them, but they always get away. This year there have been several Hawks as well. They really are magnificent birds. I love to see them just coasting in the wind. How they stay so still, just balancing their bodies with the wind current is beyond me. Red Wing Hawks used to be my favorite bird, but not anymore. My favorite bird is the Pelican. It's such a funny looking bird, but utterly graceful in flight. They are the best. Jonathan Livingston Pelican doesn't have quite the same ring, but I think they are beautiful flying in a line, following the leader,then turning into a "V" formation. They don't squawk like the seagulls, and aren't prissy like the sandpipers. I respect hawks, but they are solitary creatures. I need others.

So, I guess it's time to get out and be with others.