At the Beach

Cowboy here. We're at the beach for a long weekend. Going home in the morning. The imp has been going about her days in double time - working on a piece of art that was commissioned some time ago and redoing the computer code on all her stories and transferring them to the new site. She tells me they are all there but being read off of 2 different servers. I don't pretend to know the technical details but whatever it is, she has to do something to each of them to get them all onto her new website.

She has spent every waking moment on the art piece and on the new website. And she was showing signs of exhaustion. Telling her to take it slower is like telling her to give up chocolate so I did what she always accuses me of doing. I went into Neanderthal mode.

While she was busy I packed a few things for us and in the middle of the night Thursday, I settled her in the car and drove and ferried out to the small place we have in the San Juans. She slept the entire way which tells you how tired she was.

Brought 3 of the dogs with us - the Rott and Mastiff and the Bloodhound. The hound is up there in years and Sar refuses to make the animal go through another living adjustment. We'll be keeping him for the long haul. We didn't know if he's seen the ocean and he's attached to Sar so brought him along as a treat for both of them.

We had an anniversary this month so this is another reason to be here - a few days to ourselves - always a good thing.

Our cabin is on an out of the way cove with only locals in the area and not many of them. It's warm from mid morning to mid afternoon but the evening brings cool breezes and a bit of chill to the air.

The sand is just wet enough to make sand castles and I indulged her desire to build a sand fort just above the high tide mark. A good breeze will make it erode but she's curious to see how long it will last. I doubt it will be here for our next visit but we'll see. Just seeing her relax has been worth the trip out here. Her dogs are curious and stick their muzzles into everything. The Bloodhound has made himself comfortable in the middle of the fort which makes us both laugh at his antics. Something about the ocean air has made him friskier and more pup-like. I watch my wife as she romps with her pups and I'm feeling a bit frisky myself.

Local radio news advises that the "K" pod is in the area with 2 new calves. I scan the horizon with binoculars to try to spot them. The Orcas regularly play and rest in the protected coves and ours has been a popular one for them in the past. They won't be in the area long. In the not too distant future they will begin the slow migration to southern waters for the winter season.

Sar wants a campfire on the beach to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. I know her plan. She'll cuddle up to me and I'll keep my arms around her and the fire will burn and she'll get to stay outdoors in the cool evening when I would rather she be indoors and warm. The breeze off the ocean is a damp one and not the best for her. I give in and let her have some time outdoors in the chilly evening. The sound of the incoming tide lulls her to sleep and when that happened, I doused the fire and carried the imp back to the cabin.

We jog a bit in the cool morning. Doesn't take much to warm up when you're burning energy and when we get to the halfway point, I always give Sar a piggy back ride back. I don't want her jogging that many miles and she weighs less than a military backpack. I reach for her but she's decided to jog a little further and eludes me. She takes off with her dogs and I give chase. The dogs think this is a great game and when I finally tackle her in the sand they are all over me.

I haul her over my shoulder and give her a couple of swats which makes her laugh. Her laughter is music to my ears and tells the pups all is well. They dance around us the whole way back. I tell her she's in for it and she tells me we're gonna be out of peaches when we get home. I remind her who is boss and damned if she doesn't start giggling.

I tell her she's gonna get spanked for that and she jumps me. So there we are - on the deserted beach - a beautiful woman in my arms - one I love with all my heart. My only hope is that no one was watching us with binoculars from behind a sand dune while the band played on. It was bad enough we had 3 nosy dogs with us.

Cowboy