Holiday at the beach

Judging by the leftovers on the beach this morning, Christmas Day must have been a grand holiday for the dogs. Daisy and I found two lime neon tennis balls and one small multicolored ball as we walked to the north end of the beach. One more green one washed away in the surf before I could grab it.

Down at the end we sat on a rock and I noticed a black face peering at us from the waves. In this regard I think the "dogs can't generalize" folks may be right. Point as I might, Daisy simply would not look out to sea. The sea lion bobbed up and down for a long while. But this sort of abstract thinking -- extending the line of a pointed finger to a distant object -- doesn't seem to be within Daisy's repertoire. She was more interested in the incoming surf and wanted to leave.

So we climbed back down the rock and headed south. The escaped green ball was perched up on a dune. Next we found a worrisome construction safety hat. The story behind it couldn't have been good.

There were the usual bottle caps and straws washed in by the tide. Then another rubber ball, this time bright orange. And at the beginning of the walkway at the edge of the parking lot, we found one more set of relics from a happy day. A pair of brown leather sandals sat abandoned, with a miniature Frisbee for dogs at their side.

(Sea lion photo courtesy Central Park Zoo)