Riding High Amongst the Waves

I'm so excited about this... For awhile, I've known about Surf Dogs, having photographed a few of the events locally. That's how I came to meet Surf Dog Ricochet, who surfs, and raises a lot of money for people with disabilities who want to surf. You can see an inspirational video of her here. So then I discovered there's such a thing as adaptive surfing, and that people with disabilities could surf.

There's a place in town that has lessons, and has taught Ricochet how to surf, and I'm going to start learning how to surf, with Borias! Not sure how that's going to go, he and I tandem, but it's just so exciting I can't stand it. I'm sure he's going to really love it.

For my whole life, I've been drawn to the ocean. Surfing has always intrigued me, and I love to watch it. A long time ago, I bought a wetsuit, and would try to go out amongst the waves when the dolphins were there, but it was too hard on my own to get out there. In fact, it probably wasn't the smartest idea to go it alone! I didn't get that far out anyway. But I tried!

Yesterday, I was listening to Pearl Jam, the new album, and "Unknown Thought" was playing, which is heavy on wave imagery....

See the path cut by the moon,... For you to walk on,...

See the waves on distant shores,... Awaiting your arrival,...

Dream the dreams of other men,... You’ll be no ones rival,...
Dream the dreams of others then,... You will be no ones rival,...
You will be no ones rival,...

It seriously made me tear up...then I saw a bug pass by with a surfboard hanging out the sunroof. Whoah, kind of a sign : )

So that's gonna be me and my heart dog, riding high amongst the waves.

When it gets warmer ha ha.

Wag Awards

This past Thursday evening, Borias and I were privileged to attend the Dogswell Wag awards, honoring dogs in categories such as most heroic rescue, most charitable, most talented, etc. Our friend, Surf Dog Ricochet, who's raised thousands upon thousands of dollars for charities through surfing, was being awarded for most charitable. She's a great dog, going from Service dog, to SURF-ice dog! And Borias thinks she's super cute. (He has a thing for Goldens!)

Also very cool, the ceremony was hosted by Debra Skelton, from MadTV. I met her before I got Borias, when we were waiting to meet Mark Hamill at a comic signing. He ultimately made an appearance on MadTV because of that meeting with her, which is really cool! Debra is an amazing advocate for animal issues.

Perez Hilton was also there, but I must've not recognized him, and didn't chat with him. Loved meeting all the cool dogs. Though I must say, the dog who was rescued from the LA flood waters seemed pretty unhappy to be there, and had to wear a muzzle.

Borias and I had our pic taken on the "green" carpet. Here it is.

Happy Valentine's!

For nine years now, my significant other has been my dog. My main, close relationship. I'm so used to it that way, it would be strange to have it otherwise! He helps me when I need it, lifts me when I'm down, argues with me, a lot, and makes me laugh even more.

He's such a good sport about getting photos taken, too. Here's our Valentine's Day pic.

Happy Valentine's Day all!

Zoo!

Thought I'd share some pics from a zoo trip this past week. Borias loves the zoo so much. Great place to walk him around, seeing all the animals. It's so interesting seeing how they react to them, and vice versa. It's amazing, I just realized that Borias has been going to the zoo since he was 5 months old! I've lost count of how many times we've been.

You would think that he'd get used to all of the animals by now, but some still freak him out a little. The big cats who look like they want to stalk and eat him specifically. One can be pacing back and forth, and that's fine, but if they glare with eye contact in a certain way, he wants to bark. He also succumbs to the teasing of the primates. The worst being the Bonobos. The little chimps throw things at the glass, leap up and hit it, and generally do whatever they can to get a rise out of him.

It works. He crinkles his nose at them, like he's saying "don't tease me!" Falls for it all the time. Everyone gets a huge kick out of watching the interaction. I know I never get tired of it.