December 14. Day 349. What a difference a day makes

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday I had never heard of the acronym ICOLLs. Frankly, the should never be an acronym because no-one will ever remember it which makes it pretty much useless but I digress. For the past week I have been going to Coondibah Lagoon every day with the dogs. However, until today I did not know that was its name. We had always walked up from the beach and it was just a lagoon where dogs and small children liked to frolic. Today we took the inland path and there was a sign naming the lagoon and declaring it an ICOLL. That people is an Intermittently Closed and Open Lakes and Lagoons. Riiight. Yesterday it was closed. Today it was open. With the opening carved out,  the body of water shrunk creatinga whole different feel. The above image includes a yesterday and a today for comparison. The dogs don't seem to have a preference.

December 13. Day 348. Sing a song

It takes a very tasty bit of bait to lure me off the beach.
But if there's one thing that will do it, it's a singing concert featuring my son, Oliver.
After all, I have to know where the money I've spent on singing lessons has gone, right?
It always warms my heart to see talented young thing sing their hearts out.
It actually made me a bit teary.... This may have been pride or it may have been fear. Some of the performers were very young and yet they were very good.
I have taken up singing lessons and I know I suck. I have set a goal of singing at this exact event this time next year. Holy crap that seems like fantasy or torture for all involved ... or both ... especially me.
Perhaps if I practice .... or just hide at the beach.

December 12. Day 347. Afternoon delight

 I was on my own this afternoon. The rest of the family (minus the dogs) has business in Brisbane.
The dogs and I had important business - sleeping, reading and going to the beach.
It's like the grand central station of dog walkers on the beach in the early morning and late afternoon.
It's a beautiful time of day.
It was especially beautiful this afternoon.
It was calm and mild. The water was really, really warm.
You wouldn't go to the city and miss this unless you have to.

December 11. Day 346. Wise Owls

 It was graduation day today. I didn't go. I felt rather bad about that.
It is an important part of the university cycle. For those who have been to as many graduations as I have, they can become tedious but I know that for almost all the students it is a really important first.
Another group of eager young students is going out to the world.
But of course I'm on the beach and on sick leave and so not there, except in spirit.
And then there was the wise owls. This morning I was speaking to one of the residents in the street I am saying.
He told me there were owls in the tree and pointed two out.
He told me they were called Giggle and Hoot (after the owl-based ABC kids show). They were still there that afternoon.  I showed them to my mother and son.
What amazingly beautiful birds. I see them as an omen, a reminder of the graduation day I missed.

December 10. Day 345. Not a morning person

There was a Mexican stand off this morning.  Winkle was desperate to get to the beach.
Rumple, not really a morning "person", staged a sit down strike on the front steps.
It would have been easy to divide and conquer and take Winkle and leave Rumple, except neither dog wanted to be separated from the other.
Somehow, someone was going to have to compromise. That someone was me.
I carried Rumple most of the way to the beach until he was ready to walk. Seriously, those dogs have me wrapped around their little paws. When we got to the beach, I saw the turtle team. Until last year,  I didn't know turtles laid eggs in this part of Queensland. It was a revelation, one which I was just telling a friend about last week. He was heading north for the weekend to the turtle hatchery. He was as

surprised as I was to learn about turtle activity this far south.
Today, the turtle team told me, was the first batch of the season.
And to think, if I'd listened to Rumple, I would have missed it.
We were all happy we went.

December 9. Day 344. Dashing down the beach

I have had a serious case of couldn't-give-a-stuff-itis. Motivation to even get out of bed has been a struggle. But the lure of the beach, the sea breeze, the sand, the salt water, the whole package is irresistible .
And even if I wasn't feeling the spirit the dogs are. They know and they lead the charge.
Winkle loves to chase the ball along the beach.
Rumple is a bit ho hum on the ball business however he likes to chase Winkle.
He is often on the ball just to get the game going.
There will also be a fair bit of water play, wrestling and general horse play (or dog play as the case may be).
Apart from throwing the ball, I'm mostly an observer but I like what I see. I like it a lot. It makes me happy. The dogs may not have actual words but they make their intent very, very clear.
Oh happy days.

December 8. Day 343. The sun will come out

At the end every year, I need time at the beach. At the end of this year I REALLY need the beach. It's been tough, physically and mentally.
Actually one feeds off the other and I'm never quite sure which one leads the race.
It's like the sun comes out from behind the clouds when I'm at the beach - even on days like today when the sun didn't come out at all.
It seemed kind of cruel that after all the hot sunny days it would choose today to be rainy but there it was. Right now there really is no point sweating the stuff I REALLY can't change.
The beach with dogs in their happy place is my happy place and that will start addressing the other stuff - well that's the plan.