bounding beast and band-aid

Tavi went to bed at 10pm last night. Then was up from 1-2, from 3-4, and from 5:30 to 6:30. I was only awake for the last part and just lying there. And so Alisabeth is tuckered out today, and took a quick nap right after I emerged from a long day of barraging recruiters and applying for positions on the computer in "the cave" (my office/Tavi's room).

So I strapped Tavi in a front pack, and walked down to the water. The tide was very low, and a man was throwing tennis balls for his dog using one of those tennis ball throwing devices, a kind of modern day atlatl. I love that an act as easy and natural as throwing a ball has been made even easier, and probably made some company a ton of cash.

Anyway, the dog is a huge bounding beast--some kind of pitbull great dane hybrid--and when he leaps all his muscles emerge in stark relief until he lands, ball in mouth. Again, he returns the ball and again he runs and leaps, this time out on the tidal flats. He lands in a wide pool, and even with the sun gone and a cold wind, you can see he's ecstatic with the sweet relief from the heat of play. He drops the ball and crashes sideways into his bathtub, sending hermit crabs scrambling, and giving the sea anemones a very bad day. He proceeds to lull about, then finally rises, finds his ball, and gets back in the game.

It's too cold for a little girl, even against her father's chest. So we return for a jacket, then get back outside for a stroll down to a dead end lookout point. I walk toward the rail to find a college age guy with pink and green swirled scrub pants, a raggedy beard, and black slippers. He locks up his old 3-speed bike, and gingerly makes his way down to the short sandy beach and out on to the tide rocks, carrying what looks like an old full size portable tape recorder. Then he wanders about on the rock, looking like he needs to lower his meds. I wince thinking about all the life he is crushing under foot, but the sunset demands attention, and a young boy is galumphing about at a small pool, incensed that his mother refuses to come see what he has found. She is busy talking to a friend, then I hear her ask a passing stranger, "Do you have any band-aids?" He has a kleenex, which she accepts. I remember I have one in my wallet, and pull it out, and yell in to the wind "Excuse me, did you want a band-aid?" She looks up at my unshorn face under a watch cap, unsure of my intent. "Because I have one. Here, I'll drop it." Her wariness turns into a friendly smile. "Ohh, she says, I didn't see you had a baby up there." I drop the bandaid, which falls like an leaf, and she tries to catch it, moving her hand back and forth, saying "Yay!" then as she puts it on her boy's finger says to him "what do you say?" a small "thank you" floats up, and for a long second all is in harmony.