Sunday, May 14, 2006

Beach Find of the Day

When we first moved here six years ago, I noticed that these two people and their dog walked on the beach as much as we did. They were tall and handsome–their dog was, too. It was obvious that they were from another realm. As far as I could tell, they owned Ocean Beach. I fantasized about knowing them and being their friends.

Later we got to know Spots a little. Because we were so enamored with Spots, we had to play up to her human companion, Scott. One day Scott asked us if we had become acquainted with anyone else interesting on the beach besides Spots. Not really! But I had always wondered about the two tall people and their regal dog. I described them and asked if he had ever noticed them. He said, "Oh, that's Anne and Peter. I'm going to the opera with them this weekend."

Almost immediately after that, Scott had a bad year. He got an infection while he was in the hospital. Because of the infection, he lost part of his hip and couldn't walk. When Scott got out of the hospital, Anne and Peter insisted that he and Spots move into the apartment on the first floor of their house. Easy to maneuver a wheel chair in and out of, and closer to the hospital. Anne and Peter took Spots with them every evening on their 6-mile walk, along with Augusta (pictured). Since Spots is an athlete, they began carrying a tennis ball on their walks.

A few months ago, Scott started driving again. As soon as he could walk with crutches and get up all our front steps, we coerced him into driving Spots over for dinner. Now he's getting ready to move back into his real house. But all I'm saying is, the people pictured here did turn out to be from another realm. They're angels, Baby.