Contemplations of a Dog

In the past two months, Elmer the husky has exhibited fascinating new behavior regarding the ocean. I would characterize it as contemplation and it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen in the thousands upon thousands of visits to Oregon’s socialist ocean beaches with dogs.

It wasn’t like this at first. Initially, Elmer would investigate the wrack line for its strange smells and rarely venture down with me to the incoming tide where I walked or ran.

That changed. He now approaches the water, considers it, darts in around the dying waves, goes berserk, becomes calm, backs out, dashes back in, and all the while taking no notice of me. It seems more than just mere play and it has delighted me to speculate what he is thinking about.

You wonder why more humans don’t interact with the ocean this way.

I copied Elmer’s ocean antics a few times in recent weeks, once when multitudes of brown pelicans dive bombed green waves 50 yard offshore.

It is interesting to note that when I did, I completely purged my mind of pressing matters. For those moments, I was free of concerns, just running, splashing, and romping with my great, great dog.