Polar dogs and flooded fields

The enjoyment water dogs get from swimming in cold, cold ocean waters astounds me, but enjoy it they do. The above picture was taken Sunday, when Else and I took Sadie, Charley, Hugo, Tess and Archie to Osborne Bay Park, 65 acres of offleash trails less than five minutes from my home, trails that wend downward to an offleash beach. We had the place to ourselves.

Hugo, Tess and Archie are drawn to water like - um - fleas to a dog. And so despite the chilly air and the chillier water, they were soon swimming out after seagulls, racing each other through the surf, and splashing around like four year olds in a fountain on a hot summer's day.

Polar dogs

Charley and Sadie are so NOT water dogs, yet even Sadie was drawn to horse around with the exuberant trio tearing up the sand - vocalizing all the time, of course.

Dogs on beach

Gotcha!

Whatcha got there?

A couple of days to recover, and then it was time for the Wednesday Walk. It was a chilly, stormy day where dark clouds and rain and something close to hail were interspersed with sunny breaks and blue sky. On the nearby hills, there was fresh snow, very visble from the main road, but less so in this picture:

Thar's snow in them thar hills

Gathering clouds

We headed out to Swallowfield, thankful that the fish had passed through and the garbage was gone, only to find the river almost flooding its banks. This is the "diving cliff" where Tess takes her flying leaps - usually a good four foot drop to the water:

The estuary from river to ocean was likewise flooded - a veritable swamp that denied access to walkers in runners or hiking boots.

Flooded estuary

Swamplands

And so we walked back to a fork in the road and took the other path - the road less travelled. There the dogs found sticks to haul out of the muck :

This one's the right size!

I gotz one too!

And mushrooms big and small, in all shapes and sizes and colours:





This bare tree had a beauty all its own, its curved branches reaching upward in a series of smiles:



My favourite photo, though, was this one - of Blue, I think, hoping for treats:



Soon it was time to head back, happy but tired dogs ready for a long, long nap.