Finding Calm

Get leads, chains, hats, flip-flops and sunnies. Get poo-bags and lots and lots of training-treats. (Are they to be used as lures or just plain bribery?) Don’t forget to put on plenty of sunscreen. Two dogs exuberant and joyful, in their own wonderland. Dashing through the water’s edge, pelting across the sand, almost exploding away like released elastic bands. Seagulls escaping the excitement, flapping away like mad. Firm, hard sand underfoot. Great for a bold and striding walk. Until the underground stream turns it from firm to soft and sludgy. Calf muscles ache, sand clings in-between toes. A slower walk. Soon it’s firm, hard sand underfoot again. Repeat the bold and striding walk. We walk to “The Pole” and back. Embracing total azure bliss. Skies above pure blue, with very few clouds of fairy floss, The sea rippling with sapphire, grey, azure, some topped with white caps, Waves splooshing onto the sand, not a big swell, some little rips criss-cross. Seagulls and magpies float in the air, zeppelins with wings and sharp eyes, gawking at the prancing dogs, hoping for a prize, A missed treat, an easy dinner to find and gulp down. Very wise. Life on the beach and on the ocean has no compromise. Stepping over sea weed, striding over the sand, avoiding rocks. Watching the dogs, watching my feet, looking far away, clearing mental blocks. Mindful, peaceful, calming and energising, oblivious to any clocks, And yet also vaguely wondering, when is the next equinox? High tides. Waters lapping the dunes. Low tides. Vast sandy beach expanse. Up and down, like life’s rollercoaster, near and far, like a weird romance, The Black Dog chasing, but I’m choosing to walk towards joyful exuberance. Walking the dogs on the beach, a meditation well worth the experience.