Friday, October 31, 2008

Beach Adventure

So, this past Thursday Rana and I met up with Rachel (Rana's foster mom) and Sylvi and Mira (Rana's foster sisters) for a walk on the beach up in Yomitan. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and we went at low tide so we'd be able to walk farther. Rana couldn't have been happier with this week's adventure because she absolutely loves annoying other dogs!
The beach near Yomitan is a really cool mix of sand and shells, rock outcroppings, cliffs, and caves. There are even some tombs built right into the sides of the cliff walls and from the flowers and candles left there it looks like they still get visited. Because it was low tide there were some incredible tidal pools. We saw tons of fishes, sea urchins, sea stars, sea cucumbers, and crabs.




The dogs were having a blast. Mira loves chasing the birds, while Rana and Sylvi just liked running and wrestling and of course cooling off in the ocean. They all get along really well and it took away some of my guilt for not getting another dog for Rana to play with. I know she'd love to have someone around to play with all the time, but while we're in an apartment I can't even imagine having 2 dogs all the time! It would be craziness and probably lead to me getting cranky. I think that will change when we move into a house some day and I can just throw them out in the backyard.
Well, we're all having a great time - the sun is shining, the dogs are getting some energy out, and Rachel is easy to talk to - when I go and pull my infamous Cape of Good Hope stunt out of my bag. For all of you who don't know, while in South Africa this summer we went to the Cape of Good Hope where I immediately preceded to slip on some rocks and come directly down on my elbow. Chris says it's the only time he's seen me cry from physical pain, but I did save the camera from getting smashed! So, on the beach at Yomitan I didn't smash my elbow, but I did slip on some algae covered rocks scraping my right leg, taking a chunk out of my 4th toe and splitting my big toe nail down the middle about a third of the way before slamming my knee into a rock. Man did that hurt! However, I again managed to save the camera! I think it's all my years of field work - 'Must save the equipment! Sacrifice yourself!' All I could think of was, 'Mom and I just paid a big entry fee to do a half marathon when I go back to Florida. This better not screw it up!' And I don't think it will. I laid off the workouts for a couple days and tomorrow I plan on getting in my long run. I'm sure it will all be fine.

After a slightly more tentative walk back to Rachel's house she made us an incredible lunch of grilled pizza! She has a "No Knead Pizza Dough" recipe that she swears by and now I do to. It was delicious! While we lunched we kept the salty,wet dogs at bay in her backyard and as you can see by the pictures they were not happy with this type of abuse. Well, the pizza was delicious, the conversation was easy and unforced, and the beach was beautiful. All in all I'd say it was a pretty good day! Plus, all that running and wrestling tuckered Rana out so we both got a good night's sleep!


2 comments:

Kristina Muzzey said...

Ouch! That spill sounds painful. What half marathon are you running when you come to FL? BTW- I started my own little blog so check it out! Can't wait to see you back in FL.
K.

Unknown said...

How is the leg now. I hope it's ok. Could I have the no knead pizza dough recipe if it's not a trade secret.