Memories

We had a pretty quiet weekend; it was overcast the entire weekend with a few fleeting moments of sun around 6:00 last evening. Most definitely a different weekend here in SoCal. I'm not complaining; as you know I am not a fan of heat so I very much enjoyed the cooler weekend for a change. My husband and I went to the Dana Point boat show with him looking at the 50 footers and me scouting for the kayaks. I'm looking to get an Ocean Kayak. Back home in Canada my folks have two of these at the cottage and I love them.

There is nothing better than slipping out with a coffee in hand and a dog by your side; hopping into the kayak and silently paddling around the shore as the sun comes up. Jessie use to ride in the kayak with me always; infact we were just remembering how much she loved it yesterday. She use to stand at the very front; with her toes hanging over the front edge I'd always warn her "you're going to fall off." But she never did even when she made her much too early leaps back onto the dock as we ended out trip.

Jessie use to love to be at the cottage; she's a good little hunter. She would comb the shore all day long looking for frogs, but unfortunately for the frogs, if she found them it was one crunch and over. I remember the time right before we moved here to Southern California, we had moved out of the house and were staying two weeks at the cottage before our flight here. Two weeks at the cottage is a longtime and the dogs got really skinny, running, swimming and hunting for two weeks is sheer heaven for them.

I had three at the time; Clyde, Jessie and Tilley. Clyde never enjoyed the kayak; just too wobbly for his old crooked body but Tilley liked it and often dove off for a swim and then I'd haul her back in; which was no easy feet. But these kayaks are great for stuff like that; they aren't the tippy type, those skinny little things you roll in. These are sturdy and a lot of fun. Funny how thinking of one thing conjuers up a slew of great memories.

My sister's dog Ruby who is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (pictured above) is always in the kayak. I have a ton of photos with her riding out front, toes slug over the edge just like Jessie. And she also loves to dive off before they reach the dock. She is a fabulous water dog and as my dogs can't join me at the cottage any longer I take great joy in watching her and her family enjoy the cottage.

And as always; there is always a dog by my side in my best memories.