Fetch with black dog on the beach in the dark (photo included)
November through February has always been my favorite time to go to the beach. The cold and rain drives people away. There’s something about the sounds, smells, and solitude that is very relaxing. The winds and cold water are invigorating.
When Keiko and I go out at this time of year, it’s usually in total darkness. When we played this morning, I couldn’t see the ball I was throwing. Due to the cloud cover, the stars and moon weren’t providing much ambient light so I couldn’t see her either. Nonetheless, she was still fetching just like we were in broad sunlight (it has a rattle in it so she can hear it) — she navigates primarily by hearing and smell.
Unfortunately, after about 20 minutes, Keiko dropped the ball in the ocean. It doesn’t rattle when it’s bobbing about, and I can’t see it when it’s more than about 10 feet away. Consequently, neither one of us could find it, and it floated away. I came back to the house to bring another ball to play with. Without the rattle, she often couldn’t find it even when it was next to her.
What makes this trip especially nice is that I never thought we’d still be bringing Keiko out here in November. She was given a couple months to live near the beginning of this year, and the oncologist said he was very sure of his diagnosis. She bleeds and discharges all kinds of mucus every day, and that’s a bad sign, but frankly she still seems in better shape than she was in February.