Last week my friend Carolyn, her sister Janice, my dog Mona and I went to Santa Cruz for a day at the State Park Beach. It was a bit hazy when we first arrived around 11:30 AM. The sun would peep through the fog, and then the wind would change and the clouds would creep back in. Nevertheless, we optimistically set up the beach umbrella, deposited our towels and lunches underneath and went for a walk along the shore. Dogs had to be on leash, according to the rules, so Mona got her first experience on a retractable lead. She would run full blast to the end and then get whipped around by the neck. Being a coon hound mix, she loves to bay, so I had to try to keep her from alienating everyone around with her cries of joy. When the coast looked clear, I would free her from the leash and toss a tennis ball into the waves. She delightedly jumped in after it AND brought it back. Retrieving is not really her forte, so I was very impressed with her focus that day. If she started to run too far ahead, I simply had to give the "ah-ah-ah!" command and she would come running back.
Even though it was foggy, the salt water did not feel too cold and we walked with our feet in the sea.
When we returned to our umbrella, Janice got to witness a gull making off with her sandwich, which it swallowed in one gulp. She chased it off and saved the other half from a similar fate. As we sat in the sand, eating our lunches, we looked out into the Pacific. Suddenly, we saw a black head, not unlike that of a dog without ears. Then another popped up: Two sea lions checking out the shore. Maybe they smelled our food.
After lunch, we all went for a dip. The water seemed pretty warm until our whole bodies went in...Yow! But swimming around in the waves got us warmed up and we actually enjoyed it. Poor Mona..she got caught in a big wave that washed right over her, making her shake and shake and sneeze.
Just as we were about to leave, around 4 PM, the sun was fully out and glistened on the water. Then, only a few hundred feet out, we spotted a pod of dolphins, arcing in and out of the waves. They looked black against the steel gray water and there had to be at least 20 of them. What a glorious sight, a real treat that makes living in the Bay Area so special.
As we returned to the car and brushed off the excess sand as best we could, we reflected on what a great day it had been. I was happy Mona had been so well-behaved, and Mona? She was sound asleep on the back seat before we left the parking lot.
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