I NEED a new rugby ball!

“You transform ALL who are TOUCHED by you.” 

~ Rumi

Rumi expresses in words what I feel in my heart.  I’m transformed in one way or another by each and every person I encounter in this journey that’s my life.  

Rumi .... you rock.

I’m having a distracting morning ... all the fault of the US Open. 

 I should be working, putting pen to paper .... figuratively not literally ... but instead I’m watching tennis.  Yes, Nadal’s playing - I could be here for a while.  

I switched on just as Federer lost in straight sets to Robredo.  

When the phone rang I guessed it would be Carol.

Pete hadn’t wanted to listen to her sob story about Federer’s loss so she cried on my shoulder instead.  She’s even more besotted with rugby and tennis than what I am!

If it had been Djokovich who’d been dismissed she would have been cheering, not crying.

Tennis aside, it’s been the MOST magical of mornings.  

Sunshine, clear skies and an abundance of hounds to run amok with on the beach.

Paradise just doesn’t come better than this.

The hound’s rugby ball has finally breathed it’s last.  The innards have dropped out and it now resembles a pancake .... a leathery one.  Kicking it is no longer an option, it HAS to be thrown. Fortunately it still floats or Sam would be out there still searching for the ball .... well, what’s left of it.

A new rugby ball will have to be found.

Between Panda and Bandit, and Bella and Zak and Sam, and of course my hound, I have tossed rugby ball after rugby ball into the waves.  They just never tire of it.  Panda pinches whoever’s ball he can and Bandit tries to herd them all in and out of the waves.  Zak and Bella just race after the ball with our hounds, fully aware that their chances of holding onto the ball are remote.  

The fun is in the chase!

It’s a ball and water frenzy and whoever’s left holding the ball is the winner.

Carol’s worked out her role in all this morning activity.  Her duty is to bring Sam to the beach - and the Chiefs rugby ball of course.   Once he’s here, she’s superfluous to requirement .... in Sam’s eyes, that is .... and could quite easily go home.

Sam might not mind if she’s on the beach or not, but I do.  I enjoy our morning natters.

I even managed to stalk the heron AND the kingfishers this morning.  Mr. Heron was sourcing his morning tea and quite oblivious to my stealthy approach until he’d caught his fish.  He quite obviously thought I had designs on his tea so he stalked off into the waves.

The Kingfishers on the other hand teased me mercilessly.  Just as I hold my breath and raise the camera to my eye, there’s a flash of iridescent blue and they’re off, flitting up and down to the next rock.  I’m sure they’re secretly laughing at me.  I did get close ... but NOT close enough.

And as for the tennis ..... Nadal won, of course.

Neither the fur-balls NOR our feathered friends can read!

“Just realise where you come from.  This is the essence of wisdom.” 

Tao Te Ching

This morning's sun rise

Kissing the earth with my footsteps and tasting the air with my tongue.  

What a way to begin a day!

Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m awake 

.... to make sure what I’m feeling and seeing is real .... and it is!  

How did I get to be so lucky.

That great big yellow orb in the sky broke through the cloud cover this morning to welcome in the new day.  With daylight saving having ended I’m not QUITE reaching the view-site before it rises.  It’s close and if we RUN up the hill, we might just make it.  I can wait though ... another week or two and the hound and I will get there in time.

The timber decking is being redone in the house we’re living in.  It’s not been looked after properly and has rotted, as we discovered recently when ONE of us put a foot through the stairs down into the garden.

The handy-man who’s been appointed to repair it is doing a marvellous job and it’s looking really good.  I had to chuckle today though when he asked me if I could keep the hound and the fur-balls off the deck outside our bedroom  for a few days so as to give the finishing product time to seal.  

Well, the hound isn’t a problem ... but how do I keep the fur-balls off?

It’s not just OUR fur-balls either.  The neighbours fur-balls visit us too ... and lets not forget our feathered friends who swoop down onto the decks after creepy crawly thingies.  Putting a sign up won’t help.  Neither the fur-balls nor our feathered friends can read.

Can’t leave them a message on FB either.

Don't know WHY she lay down in the sea-weed!

I did tell the grumpy handy-man this .... but he wasn’t amused. It seems like he’s forgotten how to laugh.

He should join me on our morning rambles.  The antics of the hound and her friends would soon have him guffawing loudly. They KNOW how to play.

I think after today, I should let the council know that the tractors aren’t necessary on our beach anymore. They regularly send them to church up the sand and remove all the dead plant material.  Our Labradors do just as good a job though.  Sam and the hound were joined by Bella and another Chocolate Labrador and between the four of them, they had the beach looking fabulous

.... churned up sand and all!

The Labrador Line

The grumpy handy-man might have had a smile on his face like the other passers-by if he’d seen them.

"Everyone who got where he is, had to begin where he was." 

~ Richard L Evans

Hmmm .... good quote for my handy-man I think.

Sensory overloads

Friedrich Nietzsche once said 

“Every deep thinker is more afraid of being understood than of being misunderstood.” 

I like that.  A little mystery in life is necessary.

Sun rises are deceptive ... this one didn't LOOK like it would turn my sky alight.

Some mornings are magical and then you get other mornings that are M.A.G.I.C.A.L in the extreme .... a vibrant fiery psychedelic extreme.  THIS morning was one of THOSE mornings.

As we bounce up Cliff Road we look out on a city still lit by street-lights.  Street-lights reflecting on an inky ocean that hasn’t yet been touched by the rays of that soon to be rising morning sun.  

The aroma of burnt toast assails my nostrils and I see the hound’s nose twitch as she scents it too.  So much for someone’s breakfast.  Our usual spot at the view site is occupied.  A lone member of the lycra-clad looney brigade and his two-wheel contraption are leaning against the railing.  Dam.

I know I shouldn’t feel like that but I can’t help it.  This is my SPECIAL time of the day.  This is my SPECIAL spot.  It’s been invaded .... and NOT by the lemmings!  He does have one redeeming feature I guess .... he’s not TOO absorbed in his ride to not appreciate a magical morning.

He didn’t stay long enough though.  He didn’t get to witness that morning sky catch fire and light up my world.  He didn’t get to see what makes these mornings QUITE so M.A.G.I.C.A.L.

I did .... and it was beyond words.  As a friend so aptly put it 

“... these are the times when your soul just soaks it up and words don’t have a place.”

It was a moment in time I wanted to freeze.

Murphy, Chocolat, Bailey and the Black Labrador with Max in the front

My feet hardly touched the ground as we headed back to the beach. That sun rise left me on an absolute high.  It was a sensory overload of all things beautiful. If taking drugs leaves one feeling like this then it’s easy to understand their appeal. 

I want that feeling again and again and again.

Murphy and Bailey and Chocolat

Today is THE day.  The first Tuesday after Easter and a VERY important date for those of us who own hounds.  It’s the END of summer restrictions .... YAY!  No more looking over our shoulders for the dreaded red van and the Hitler clones within.  

5 month old Bailey had a wonderful time!

We’re now LEGAL on the beach OFF-LEASH .... the hounds that is ....  untill 10am!

Aha ..... Sam's arrived!

My intention this morning was to take photos of the Heron. The tide was low with reflections that blow my mind.  I didn’t anticipate the crowd we gathered as the hound tried to unearth her sunken log from the waves.

A veritable PUDDLE of Labradors ... on the beach though, NOT at Waiatarua!

There was Murphy, and Bailey ... who’s only 5 months old .... and a black Lab who’s name I can’t remember.  Sam raced to join in the fun, as did Bella.

She's giving the ball to Sam .... not that he needs her help.  He's quite capable of taking the ball himself.

Both Sam and Bella arrived on the scene WITHOUT their humans.  Sam had been looking for us before Carol even crossed the road.  The moment he saw all the Labradors playing on the beach there was NO holding him back.  He was IN the waves and playing before Carol even left the boardwalk.  

No flies on him and NO human necessary.

Suzanne was trying to handle her phone, Bella’s lead and the necessary hound paraphenalia when Bella broke free.  

She arrived at my feet with her lead and halti still attached.

That’s just the Labradors that came to play.  A little tyke called Max joined in the fun though he was about a tenth of the size of the other hounds.  He was constantly trying to avoid being trampled by the Labrador Puddle.  His two buddies, who weren’t quite as brave as him, sat safely at a distance and watched.  

Mischka (not sure of the spelling) a Siberian Husky tried to join in the fray too.  

Paddy the Irish Setter came to say hello, as did Amy and Nico and Coco and Marco.  

Both Paddy and Coco aren’t allowed off their leads as they’re inclined to ‘DO an Indy’, and not come back when called.

Amy ... doing her wading in the water bit.

Talking of Indy .... we’ve missed seeing him these past few days!

That pristine beach we arrived on this morning didn’t look QUITE as pristine when we left. 

Churned up sand, trenches and puddles everywhere!

All unmistakable signs of the recent presence of a very happy LABRADOR PUDDLE!