Today was the perfect summer day. Sunny, reasonably unhumid, cool. Gracie woke up with more pep than I think I have ever seen her have. All morning she was urging me to pep up and get going. We went through our usual routine and then went for a short run. I could tell that the run wore her out less than it wore me out, though. Still, she was willing to doze on the couch while I worked on the material for my fall classes and got started on a book review of Now You See It I'm hoping the Minnesota Teacher's of English will put in their (our?) fall newsletter. The editor told me to make it between 500 and 1000 words. At 800 words, I decided to stop and take Gracie to the lake for a swim. She was excited as we packed up our supplies: sunscreen for me, life jacket and purple tennis ball for her, and a towel for us both. It seems funny to say that it was too hot to go swimming most of July, but it was. I knew I could get to the lake and swim, but I didn't think I could manage the hot ride home covered in lake water.
Gracie has decided she likes riding in the cart behind the bike and now jumps in when we go into the garage. She still doesn't like the sound of the garage door, but she doesn't react to it with dread anymore. She definitely does not care for the basement, though, and would rather get to the bike through the garage door instead of down the stairs into the basement.
The ride to the lake was slightly marred by the first Wednesday alarm test. We were right under the thing when it went off, and it hurt my ears. I can only imagine how awful the alarm was for Gracie. We survived, though, and the ride along the edge of the wetland was beautiful, the path paved with the dappled light filtered through the trees. Gracie likes to ride with her front paws hanging over the edge of the cart and, of course, with her tongue fully extended. People who pass us smile and mutter something that sounds to me like "cute dog." I hope they're talking about Gracie!
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| See Gracie glow! My angel. |
The first beach we reached was closed for "Safety Day." Kids who looked to be nine or ten years old were spread out in clumps with each clump wearing its own color t-shirts. Taken as a whole, they looked like sorted M&M candies. We rode on by. The next beach was populated with several dogs, mostly unleashed. We kept going on around the lake to what used to be called Hidden Beach, an unofficial beach that had a reputation for nude bathing. I suspect this was some one's wishful thinking rather than a reality because in all my years of being on, in, and by Cedar Lake, I never once encountered anyone bathing in the nude. The police must have decided that something unsavory was going on there, however, because a few years ago the city decided to make Hidden Beach an official beach. They installed outhouses and defined the swimming area with orange floats. Occasionally, a lifeguard appears--actually very infrequently with the current budget woes, but enough to warrant a place for a lifeguard to perch and a boat to row out to rescue anyone who happens to drown at exactly the right time. This beach was also busy. After all, it was a beautiful day and the unemployment rate is currently in the double digits (despite there being no income tax increase on the wealthiest 1% either locally or nationally to offset the revenue shortage--apparently not raising taxes does not create jobs while raising taxes costs jobs. This is confusing, but I am not counting on either the president or the press to clear this confusion up. There is simply too much at stake for honesty) Still, there were no dogs that I could see. I locked my bike to a sign that said, "No dogs and No glass containers allowed." Sometimes no lifeguard means an opportunity to exercise the much touted "personal freedom" Republicans in particular are so interested in protecting for us. Then I got Gracie in her life jacket and took out the tennis ball. She was not a very enthusiastic ball player today, so I decided to pick her up by the handle on the jacket and take her out just far enough for her to have to dog paddle in. That's exactly what she did. We did that a few times. I was hoping that she would like this and would eventually go out as well as come in. Finally, I decided that this was simply not going to happen, at least for today. Of course she was too cute in her orange life jacket with that purple tennis ball in her mouth for anyone to point out to us that dogs were notallowed. Had they, I would have countered that she is a service dog and can be where I am, which today was knee deep in Cedar Lake.
When I eventually tossed the ball up on the sand, Gracie's morning enthusiasm returned. She went after it with gusto. So I threw it until Gracie finally took it into a tangle of tall weeds. That's when I recalled all the paths through the woods that branch out from and circle around Hidden Beach. Leaving the bike locked to the sign, we headed down the path. Unlike the beach, the path was deserted, shady and cool. I had the bang leash on Gracie and tossed the ball in front of us. I could tell she was having a grand time, and I was too. We circled around, finding connecting paths until we arrived back at the beach. I dipped her paws in the lake to get off the sand. Then we headed home.
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