The Soft Animal of Her Body Loves the Beach
With apologies to Mary Oliver.
We try to make it to the dog beach a few times a week so Emma can join the pack of dogs running through the foamy surf. She crouches on her belly in the shallows, waiting for the ball dogs who swim out deep to paddle back to shore and then she leaps up at them to continue the chase.
She seems to know when the big set waves are about to break and will leave off a chase to run back to the beach just in time, while the unlucky dogs get tumbled and rolled and run back to their owners, trembling.
When it is time to go home, Emma jumps in the car, panting, with crazy eyes and her tongue hanging out in a wild Aussie grin. We know it was a good session when she is a shake ‘n bake dog, her fur wet and spiky, deeply embedded with sand. After her bath, she runs around the house, chuffing and snorting, legs churning wildly as she skids across the hardwood floor and crashes head first into walls.
Then, that taken care of, she calmly climbs into her chair and takes a long nap in the sun, her freshly washed butt feathers exploding out into luxuriously fluffy plumage as they dry. May we all let the soft animals of our body love what they love.