Grey being a colour, NOT a state of mind.

“Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself 

and know that everything in life has a purpose.” 

~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Jubilantly joyous GREY weather ... grey being a colour, NOT a state of mind!

Howling winds, bouncing waves, erratic rain ... Sunday had it all.  

Thank goodness we DIDN’T have the wind and rain at Milford on Saturday. 

 I think the gazebo MIGHT not have survived.

It wasn’t just the waves that were bouncing. The hound was too.

Market days mean no long ramble, especially on Milford market days.  The beach is close to hand when we do Browns Bay Market or Orewa Market so she gets to take the chauffeur to the sand.  She doesn’t at Milford though so by the time Sunday morning comes round, she’s chomping at the bit to be in the waves.

She had Bessie for company on Sunday and Molly.

Molly’s another Black Lab we’ve got to know on our daily rambles.  She’s all of 9 years old and is going blind.  The fact that she can’t see doesn’t deter her from WANTING to chase balls in the waves.  She’s eagerness personified and stands frantically waiting, ears pricked for the sound of the rugby ball hitting the water. 

She’s incredibly accurate when the ball’s in shallow water. The deeper the water where the ball is though and the less able she is to find it.  My hound reluctantly comes to the rescue.  Despite not wanting to hand her stick to Bessie, she WILL drop the stick and retrieve the ball if encouraged to do so.  She glares at me reproachfully whilst doing it and is apt to drop the ball in the shallows in her haste to return to the stick.

Molly’s just delighted to have the ball back within hearing.  

Her happiness ISN’T diluted at all by her inability to see.

Her human is another human I admire.  Despite Molly’s disability she still brings her to the beach on a regular basis and everything is done at Molly’s pace and within the limitations Molly has.  

Humans who LOVE their hounds ... they make my heart smile.

“Dogs lives are too short. You know the pain is coming, but there’s such beauty in the hard honesty of that, in accepting and giving love, while always aware that it comes with an unbearable price.” 

~ Dean Koontz

Despite the early hour of the morning that we ramble, silence ISN’T always present, especially when Bandit and the hound espy one another on the beach.  They have a VERY  vocal love affair. Their rather verbose conversation was even audible to the other half on his way down to the bus-stop this morning ... and we were down the FAR end of the beach.

Heaven help anyone trying to have a sleep-in on a week day morning!