Beach Dog*

Meg left early this morning to take her mother home and help her take down her Christmas tree so OilMan, Rick and I decided to take Ozzie to the beach.

During the winter months dogs are allowed on Del Mar North Beach without a leash. Today was a beautiful warm day and the dog days of summer have been going on since, well, the dog days of summer. The beach was crowded with people--kids, jumping off the rocks, dogs, a lone surfer and dogs, dogs dogs--all having a blast. Ozzie single- mindedly wove his way through the dogs wanting his sticks, and made a beeline for the water. The tide was out, leaving a vast strip of wet sand which had to be traversed before his sticks could reach the waves. OilMan was tired long before Ozzie was, and almost as wet.

We worked up an appetite at the beach, so we had lunch at Rudy's Taco Shop (one of hundreds in the vicinity) carnitas tacos for OilMan and carnitas and carne asada burritos for Rick and me. We sat in the sun at tables with tops of mosaics made from broken tiles, sloshing our food with hot sauce out of plastic squeeze bottles, eating with our fingers, and watching cars square dancing with each other getting in and out of the narrow parking lot.

All four of us are back home now, connected to four devices. OilMan and Rick are discussing beer making, Rick's current developing project. Lager, ale, bright tanks and barrels, yields and yeast. The beautiful red streaked sky silhouetting the row of palm trees on the hill has turned dark, and we are almost ready to turn our thoughts to dinner....

*As Emma, my half Italian grandniece, in her interesting mixed syntax, has dubbed the Dog Beach.