I went AWOL today ...

I went AWOL this morning .... well, the bubbly, bouncy part of ME did.  There’s no warmth in my soul right now, just like there’s little warmth in that winter sun. 

I feel distant and lost and angry and raw all at the same time.  

It’s transient and I know it’ll pass but I hate how it makes me feel.

Life sucks at times.  

It hits you with the proverbial sledgehammer and leaves you reeling.

Even an eternal optimist like me STRUGGLES sometimes to make sense of what’s happening in my life and to understand all those little voices in my head that just DON’T shut up.

I need hugs .... LOTS of them.

It’s a good thing the hound can’t talk.  She could write a book of all the thoughts I share with her when I’m rambling on my lonesome and the tears are streaming down my face.

She does what she knows best though.  

She gets me out and rambling .... and smiling.

You can’t help but smile when you get a freezing salt-water shower or your feet are covered by a mountain of sand in a matter of moments. 

You can’t help but smile when a big Golden hound dribbles a soccer ball along the beach with his nose, whilst being chased by a chocolate brown hound. 

You can’t help but smile when both hounds are trying to get a grip on said soccer ball that’s floating away in the waves.

Yes ... SOCCER .... not rugby for a change.

The hound found a “precious” on the beach this morning

 .... in the form of a soccer ball.  

Magical moments.  ‘In the moment’ moments.  

We ALL need moments like this.

The hounds share their magic with more than just Carol and I.  Their trench-digging antics in the sand are attracting more and more attention each day.  

One gentleman asked us if they could come and dig up his garden.  Another wanted to pinch the chocolate hound whilst his partner wanted the golden one.  

So many people stop to chat and take photos of them.  

They bring smiles to more faces than just ours. 

We even make Pete smile most mornings!

I needed those smiles today.

“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment, he needs help.” 

~ Thich Niht Hanh