What is Peace?

Today we walked on the beach. Since I now have a beach, I feel obligated to use it. It is a nice walk to town and then we walk back on the promenade.

Walking on the beach is quite the experience. You need to dart around small children and running parents, watch out for kite strings, make sure you don't enter someones beach photo, and try and keep Olive from eating everything crab related.

Herbie marches down the beach like a soldier heading for the mess tent. He looks neither right nor left and nothing detracts from the experience of getting home as fast as doggie possible.

Olive on the other hand, is deranged. She darts back and forth as if she has ingested speed tablets. Waves, birds, seaweed, sand, clouds, people, all tend to send her into fits. She has no idea what to do, where to go, what to focus on, therefore she sits down and scratches her ear. 100 times a walk. I, being that I am on a mission to actually accomplish the walk in THIS day, do not notice that she has paused yet again, and I promptly drag her down the beach on her side. Once I feel that dragging motion, I immediately stop but it is too late, she is now covered in sand and refuses to get up. I have wounded her feelings and I must be taught a lesson. She will lay there and gaze at me with her big limpid eyes, as if to say "What have I ever done to you? I have showed you love and kindness in all manner. This is how I get repaid, drug down the shore like luggage." Eventually, she rises with a big sigh and continues on her flighty way. Soon the scenario happens again and again and again.

Once we reach the Prom, Herbie continues his march home and Olive dances down the sidewalk. She sticks her head in and out of the concrete barrier and tries to eat garbage. She will gaze adoringly at birds in the hope that one will come close enough to her for her to exclaim how much she loves flying. She considers birds to be the most amazing creatures EVER and occasionally will fling herself off of the backyard knoll in case she can fly and has not realized it yet.

Herbie wants to get home and will put up with none of her foolishness but that does not deter her from trying. She will grab his leash, lick his head, give him the beautiful feather that she has found, he couldn't care less. HOME, HOME, HOME, FOOD, BED, HOME, is all that goes through his mind and everything else can just piss off.

Once home, they have dinner and Herbie jumps on the couch followed by Olive. She will promptly lay on top of him and gnaw his ear. Trying to tell him the wonderful tale of all she has seen at the beach, he growls and she goes to licking his face, he growls louder, she puts his whole head in her mouth. He gets up and moves to a chair. She shoves herself into the chair and pretends this is so comfortable she can hardly believe her luck. He has had enough and a small screaming match breaks out. Olive loses and heads to the kitchen to sleep on the tile floor. Herbie twirls around 27 times and starts to sleep like the dead.

Peace is two tired dogs.