Last Day of Winter......?

Monday was the last "official" day of winter. It seemed, instead, that we were ushering in the first day of summer! Tippy and I spent a lot of time by the water, just relaxing. We started with my "sanity cruise" along the shore in Old Saybrook. My mom and I actually started doing this way back in the mid nineties. We usually "cruised" in the evening, letting the stress of the day melt away among the serenity of the sand and surf. After a bit, my friend Deb and I would make the drive once or twice a week as well. Then, once my mom passed away in 2007, it became a regular part of my day....at least most days. I usually made the drive with someone, whether it was Deb or one of my children. It was Emmy a lot of the time since she was the youngest and I only taught part time. Since receiving my first service dog I try to start my day with the drive to set me up for a good day. I pick up a soda at Burger King, and begin by following Rte. 154 along past Great Hammock Beach, Saybrook Town Beach, Cornfield Point, Knollwood, Fenwood and Fenwick(exclusive/private). The causeway is next and I always enjoy seeing the water on the 2 sides. The side that flows under the causeway into a small inlet is usually calm, almost mirror like. Occasionally ripples from a landing swan or Canada Geese interrupt the tranquil scene. As the water from the river approaches the causeway it seems to have minute waves and in windy conditions it gets quite choppy. The contrast between the 2 sides is in itself settling for some reason. Since the weather was so accommodating, we were able to sit on one of the benches at Saybrook Point. It's right at the mouth of the river, and while sitting, looking across the water is Old Lyme. If you look up river, you see the railroad trestle spanning the width, and beyond there's the Baldwin Bridge. No, it's best to look across or down toward the sound. Peace...........

From there we drove the 10 minutes heading home and taking the turn to go down into the center of Essex. I love to park alongside the green(behind the post office) and walk down to Steamboat Dock. It used to take me maybe 10 minutes to walk down the street to the dock and all the way back past the green to the head of main street and back to the green again. Now, it takes me at least 30-40 minutes.....with many stops along the way.....just to get down to the dock. Once there, I sit for a bit....a lonnnnng bit....before heading back to the green. No farther! The picture above is Tippy laying on the sand by the dock with ducks and geese beyond. He's so big, that I tend to forget that he's just 17 months. But this picture makes him look like a "little" puppy. He just looks so sweet, he really is so sweet. I honestly don't think that I've had any difficulty with him yet. I really think he did very well for his first time. Why, you might ask, would that be an issue? What you can't see, or hear, is the argument 2 geese were having. Tippy was being sooooo good! He would glance toward the commotion, steal a peek, then whip his head around to look at me and cock his head as if to say, "okay, I'm leaving it, I'm leaving it"! THEN.....he looks at my hip, waiting for my hand to head in that direction to retrieve a piece of gold(or orange!) from its' depths.....a CARROT!!!!! Oh how wonderful it would be if our children....or spouses could be sated by a mere carrot!!!! Any way, the argument turned into a battle, the battle got carried away and seemed to scare even the ducks in attendance. They took flight, dove into the water, quarreled some more, and then as quickly as it began it ended! Tippy wasn't sure whether he loved it, hated it, or should be afraid of it.....we left. We finished up on the green at the gazebo. It was a great day for checking out the sights, sounds, and even the smells of the shoreline. Isn't it interesting that everywhere we went just happened to be near a popular area eatery? I wonder, can one lose weight by smelling good food and not eating? Hmmmm? I just may have to check it out. This next picture is not clear, but you can get a sense of the calm I feel when I finish at the gazebo. Again, depending on which way you face you can get what you want. I choose to look toward the cove and relax in the breeze and view. In a few weeks, the tourists will begin to descend on the town, and if you face the street you see the many attire faux pas! The plaids, stripes, polka-dots.....sometimes all together on the same person.....are enough to drive the locals out of town! But, alas, it's good for our local economy. Just men, PLEASE, stay away from the pink and green plaid pants with the pink sweater over your shoulders! UGH!

One last thing. Remember how I occasionally introduced Alli as a "Pushy Broad"? Well Tippy is the opposite! We went to our local dog park, aka "Paw Park", and there were 3 dogs already there. A husky, and 2 rescued mixes that looked like they could be part Flat Coat Retriever and part Lab. When we arrived at the transition gate, we entered the first set and closed them behind us. I had Tippy in a "Sit/Stay". I began removing his "gear" and he remained sitting. The 2 mixes were yelping and mildly growling...but you could tell it wasn't really aggressive. They were just letting Tippy know they were there first. Their owner held them back so Tippy could calmly enter as it was his first time there. Tippy went in and the owner let the dogs sniff Tippy. It went well, so we let the dogs go to play. The 2 mixes began running by tippy and growled and nipped a few times, not anywhere near him, but he cowered just the same. Then he came and ran behind me. ***(This is what Lucky and Maggie did the first time we took the 3 dogs,including Alli, to Karin's dog park in MA. Alli had just barged ahead and had a good run.) After a minute, Tippy took off to play and everything went well the remainder of the time. I love seeing the different personalities these dogs have and how they maneuver through life's challenges with us. And, how they accept those challenges and thrive along with us.

Below is an amazing story of what our canine partners are capable of doing to help us lead normal, productive lives, all while loving us unconditionally.....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2114840/How-Mr-Gibbs-dog-keeps-keeps-Alida-Knobloch-3-alive-strapping-oxygen-tank-back.html