Dog on the beach
A few weeks ago I took a trip to visit my parents who live near Hilton Head Island, SC. While I absolutely love going to Hilton Head, it had been 4 years since I had been there. Over the past four years there had many been things in my life which had prevented me from returning to Hilton Head, in spite of doing quite a bit of other traveling over the same time period. During the last trip there in 2014 and the trip before that in 2013 each morning I would get up before the dawn to shoot photos of the sunrise over the beach. There is something about seeing the sunrise over the beach that is so refreshing to my soul. The photos of the sunrise from the previous trips are some of my favorite photos that I have taken.
As you can see, I love photographing the sunrise over the beach. I love the beach, but walking on it while the sun is rising is especially energizing to me. There is something about seeing the black of night giving way to the warm rays of the sun illuminating the beach that fills my soul with energy. Add to that the feel of the waves gently lapping against my feet as the sand massages my toes and it makes for an amazing morning. I really did not have many plans for this trip other than to spend time with my dad, photograph 2 of my friends who lived in the area, and do beach photography each morning. The sunrise beach photos from this trip were on par with the last 2 trips and did not disappoint me.
As I was walking along the beach one morning after the sun had risen I came upon a group of people who had a dog with them. The dog was playing fetch with its owner and the owner saw me coming so he threw the ball for the dog in the direction that I was walking. Once the dog returned the ball to his master he threw the ball a second time, this time landing near me. I picked up the ball and threw it for the dog to fetch back in the direction of his master. The dog retrieved the ball and took it to his master who threw it back to me. This time when I threw the ball the dog brought it back to me instead of his master. I had found a new friend.
This game of catch between my new furry friend and I went on for about 15 minutes before I threw the ball back to the dogs master and continued on my way. Playing catch with the dog was a much needed breath of fresh air for me. It was deeply therapeutic.
This interaction with the dog on the beach reminded me of my time with Lambert. Lambert was along with Oliver one of my two best dog friends ever. He was quite a character. Lambert loved to play fetch with me in the yard, but would not let Ruutu play with him. This was in spite of the fact that Ruutu was older than him, taught him how to play fetch in the first place, and was the mother of his puppies. Nor would he allow his puppies to play fetch with him either. When either of his puppies would go near a ball that I would throw, Lambert would bull rush them and push them out of the way of the ball. If need be he would growl at them until they surrendered the ball to him. He took playing fetch that seriously! Lambert was such a wonderful dog, and yet I only had him a short time. I lost him due to anemia in August 2015 when he was only 6 years old. The death of Lambert hit me harder than my divorce did and I am not sure that I have fully recovered from his loss. Because Lambert refused to share his tennis balls or his loofa toys with his puppies, neither Mariah or Gilmour like to play fetch. Thus it had been three years since I played fetch with a dog and so the interaction with the dog on the beach was something that I sorely needed.
