East Gippsland ABC Open Group
The Dog and the Seal
By Janet Cameron, Orbost ABC Open Group
He gazes at the still form before him with his tail just moving.
He looks to me with questioning eyes. Then back to the body.
He waits for the slightest movement to show the presence of life.
Around us the late winter sun shines softly, warming night-chilled sand, and the sea breeze is gentle, forgetting its stormy last few months.
The previous weekly walk (prior to shopping) we had gone several kms to the West. Grey skies and wind chills encouraged fast walking. Then my dog, well into his intertidal sensory exploration of the sea's flotsam and jetsam, had suddenly come across a larger body than the usual fish or gull and ... it moved.
Recognising a potential furry playmate, he play bowed, tail wagging with enthusiastic invitation.
But... the seal did not recognise his action and, in fear, lolloped down to the surging waters, swam into them, then disappeared.
The dog was ready to plunge into the waves after his friend and would have been grasped by the rip and taken to his death. I called hard into the chaos to stop him.
The remainder of the walk, his one focus was on the magic disappearance of his friend.
Now, a different day on a nearby beach, in the new and peaceful weather, his friend was there again.
But, no movement, no spark of life. Yes it smelt like his friend but... He tentatively moved his tail in invitation. He circled the body, alert for some sign.
Sensing no life in the form, he sat down, puzzled.
He waited.
Then he moved on to what life had to offer on that walk.
One wonders about the canine potential for increased awareness of both death; the passing of life from a body and also that there are living forms within these waters that we so often walk beside, and seldom enter.
Certainly on beach walks now he frequently checks with great interest amongst those waves. There is a lure for him. The call of the mythical Sylke (part woman part seal) has struck deep into his doggy heart and maybe kindled a new awareness.
Who knows? Can you prove either way, what a dogs mind is capable of?
The Dog and the Seal
By Janet Cameron, Orbost ABC Open Group
He gazes at the still form before him with his tail just moving.
He looks to me with questioning eyes. Then back to the body.
He waits for the slightest movement to show the presence of life.
Around us the late winter sun shines softly, warming night-chilled sand, and the sea breeze is gentle, forgetting its stormy last few months.
The previous weekly walk (prior to shopping) we had gone several kms to the West. Grey skies and wind chills encouraged fast walking. Then my dog, well into his intertidal sensory exploration of the sea's flotsam and jetsam, had suddenly come across a larger body than the usual fish or gull and ... it moved.
Recognising a potential furry playmate, he play bowed, tail wagging with enthusiastic invitation.
But... the seal did not recognise his action and, in fear, lolloped down to the surging waters, swam into them, then disappeared.
The dog was ready to plunge into the waves after his friend and would have been grasped by the rip and taken to his death. I called hard into the chaos to stop him.
The remainder of the walk, his one focus was on the magic disappearance of his friend.
Now, a different day on a nearby beach, in the new and peaceful weather, his friend was there again.
But, no movement, no spark of life. Yes it smelt like his friend but... He tentatively moved his tail in invitation. He circled the body, alert for some sign.
Sensing no life in the form, he sat down, puzzled.
He waited.
Then he moved on to what life had to offer on that walk.
One wonders about the canine potential for increased awareness of both death; the passing of life from a body and also that there are living forms within these waters that we so often walk beside, and seldom enter.
Certainly on beach walks now he frequently checks with great interest amongst those waves. There is a lure for him. The call of the mythical Sylke (part woman part seal) has struck deep into his doggy heart and maybe kindled a new awareness.
Who knows? Can you prove either way, what a dogs mind is capable of?