Posted on July 5, 2014 by cruisingrunner
After the run and hike yesterday, my quads were screaming at me during yoga this morning, so I decided to give them a break today. We are now thinking about moving anchorages away from town over near the pass, and if we do that, I will regret my decision not to run this morning, because it’s unlikely there’s anywhere to run over there tomorrow.
Today, I went for a paddle instead. I always head upwind first, and today that meant heading to the beach on the motu across the lagoon from the town. There is a sandbar that stretches far into the lagoon, and as I was paddling over I noticed two dogs running and playing on the sand bar. When I landed the paddle board a little ways down the beach one of the dogs came over to check me out. He stood several feet away from me and just stared. I stared back. Hard. After a few seconds I established myself as the alpha and he gave up and just sniffed around. When he got too close to me, though, I told him to go away. He did. I was the alpha, after all.
I walked around for awhile, noticing how most of the land I was walking across is usually underwater. There were spots of coral and dried up sea cucumbers. It was quiet and felt eerie after awhile, like I was somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be. There were only three sounds to be heard: the ocean crashing against the reef on the outside of the motu, the wind blowing through the palm trees, and my own soft footsteps. This was a moment to treasure.
-D.
Gresham Family Exodus 