Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Where's my Sailboat?

I left a few minutes before 6. The sky already faded to light blue, but I was reminded that our early sunrises would soon be over with Daylight Savings fast approaching.

Puffy clouds lingered in the sky after another weekend storm. Soon, the light breeze kicked up its heels and pushed the clouds into the east.
I attached Kona's leash to my waistbelt and pushed uphill. I hoped to tuck out of the wind, but no luck. We were tossed around all morning.

Kona handles wind better than I do. I focused on the clear skies, trying to keep away the spooks that wind always sends my way.

We ascended our second hill and were greeted by the sun. I quickly shuffled through my waistbelt to find my sunglasses. Kona and I stood at the entrance of a wind tunnel, and I was ready to get moving.
Maybe the wind got to Kona more that I thought. She was a tense pooch. She held her tail down tightly as we ran down our longest hill. She still found scent-trails to follow and soon alerted me to some elusive friends. Mule deer! She frantically followed their tracks. I've only seen deer on this trail once, and it's been months since I've seen any evidence of them at all. Our hoof-friends weren't slipping away without Kona's investigation.
We turned around to head back uphill. The wind began gusting enough to plant sumacs on their sides. As the trail curved east, the sun blinded me and I hoped that there weren't any cyclists headed our way. With the sun stealing my vision, and the wind blocking all sounds, I was glad to reach the crest of our hill and head out of the sun.

The wind cleared the sky and gave us a clear view of Downtown and even the ocean. I was bummed that Kona couldn't relax.

We soon reached the highest point of our run. Like always, I stopped to take in the mountains.

On our way downhill, Kona yanked so hard she nearly knocked me down. I gave her a leash correction that I regretted before it happened. My dog cringed whenever I came near her for the rest of our run.

I looked to the sky and marveled at the crevasses the air painted on the mountains. I wanted sails. I wanted to fly away over the mountains and thank the wind for taking me. I wanted to relentlessly tire, pulling the lines, and land back on ground rejuvenated.

I kept my eyes upward. It wasn't a morning when I could handle the disconnect I had with my favorite canine.

We pushed through our final mile. We ran quickly through an oak-covered stretch, where the sounds of crackling branches helped me pick up my pace. At a final look out point, I was glad to see Kona's tail relax.
We had covered some distance. As we drove home, my body felt the restfulness that follows good exercise. My emotions were unfortunately also tired from the uneasy morning I had with Kona.

I was happy that when we got home, Kona's best friend was coming back from a walk. The two pups got to romp for while before us humans had to get going. Kona was happy to be with her friend, and I was glad to see her mood lifted.

5 comments:

Sara said...

Both my dogs are acutely aware of the wind, and the changes it can cause in the landscape, not to mention the strange noises it creates. Sorry you had a tough run today. Your photos are beautiful.

I sat with a co-worker today who boasted about how friendly her dog is after all the training classes they've been too. How her dog LOVES everyone. Loves to go visit their neighbors. Wants everyone to touch her, yada, yada, yada....

Yea. My dog would hide under a chair. LOL.

Kathy Mocharnuk said...

I live out here in So Cal in the desert and I am hating the wind, the dogs always act so much different and this wind just feels so cold and harsh. Glad there was a really great end to the walk!

LauraK said...

Such beautiful scenery! Kona reminds me a little bit of one of my dogs, Riley, looks wise. I just love those cute rescue mutts, they're the best. Sounds like you had quite the morning, I'm glad it ended on a good note romping around with her friend :)

KB said...

I love the photos. My favorite one is Kona sniffing her shadow!!!

One game that I still play with my 6 yr old K is the "I won't move forward until there's slack in the leash" game. It's a game that takes a lot of patience, and definitely breaks up a run. But, it has taught K (most of the time) that she needs to let there be slack in the leash to get where she wants to go.

I'm so glad that Kona had the chance to romp with her best friend to lift both your spirits!! But, it also sounded like overall a good run!

Sam said...

I've had some tough lessons with leash corrections, too. I'm almost wholly a positive trainer, but there's been a time or two when I've let one slip - now I've realized it just doesn't do any good.

Sounds like you had a busy run with some rough patches, but you both made the best of it. You and I both will always have our up days and our down days with our sensitive girls.