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Beach Day with SibesJune 26, 2010 So somehow my friend Carole hooked up with the Snow Dogs, a bunch of people in the Boston area who do fun things with their Siberian huskies, and one way or another they all thought it would be cool to visit the Vineyard. This was back in mid-May, like a long time ago, and I'm not sure how all this came about, but the short version is that shortly before 11 a.m. this morning Travvy and I headed down to the Land Bank's Sepiessa Point property, on the shore of Tisbury Great Pond. My friend Trav tends to get a bit hyper in exciting situations, and since six Sibes, several people, and Carole's three dogs (two Springer spaniels and the fast and fearless Pipster, a 10-pound terrier mix) added up to at least as much excitement as a Rally trial, I guessed we'd last about 20 minutes before Travvy went so over the top that prudence required a retreat to calmer climes. We got to the Sepiessa trailhead just in time to see the tail end of the group disappearing down the trail that runs along the eastern shore of Tiah's Cove. This was actually good strategy. Trav had ample opportunity to get used to the fact that there were dogs, lots of dogs, just ahead. Boy, were the smells fascinating! But he was managing to pay attention to me most of the time, so I let us catch up with the others so he could start meeting the other dogs. A few were on leash but most were loose, and Ernesto was bike-joring with one. First contact went amazingly well. The Siberians were very well-behaved. They and Trav sniffed each other in various configurations. We walked on toward the pond shore, encountering several other people and two golden retrievers en route. The pond was pretty high, but there was plenty of beach to sit on. Trav wanted to go wading, so I took off my hiking boots and went in with him. Dogs were running, fetching, digging, swimming, and Trav was alert but under threshold. I got to talk with the people -- Kristin, Tania, and Ernesto -- and admire the dogs. I stayed long enough to get a bit of a sunburn, almost two hours, and when I took my leave it was mostly because it was pretty hot out there for a dog in a heavy overcoat. We walked back on the trail that leads alongside the old wire fence at the edge of the Jones family properties. I was thrilled. Earlier this morning I'd finally entered Trav in two mid-July Rally trials in Vermont, one in Tunbridge on the 16th, one in Essex Junction on the 17th. I have a hankering to see the Tunbridge fairgrounds again, and also to get off the rock for no good reason. True, entry fees are the least of it, and I haven't made motel or ferry reservations, but this was still the beginning of a commitment. Watching Travvy cope so well with a demanding situation made me think that maybe I'm not nuts after all.
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