Summer adventures
After returning from vacation this past week, Seattle seems to have dropped into freezing mode all of a sudden. Apparently, my family are the only ones feeling it. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that we spent 2 weeks in Rio de Janeiro, while it was roughly 35° C. Reminiscing about the warm weather, I started daydreaming of the few adventures I experienced this past summer while studying for the GMAT. As I write this, Zoey is completely bundled up next to me, with only her nose poking out of the blanket burrito she's wrapped herself in. One of the adventures that really sticks out in my head of course has to do with Zoey.
In the height of the summer, I invited a friend to go kayaking with Zoey and I. I'd taken Zoey out before with me, where she'd just sit on my lap. This time though, since my friend and I got a 2 person kayak, Zoey would not sit still. She kept trying to run from one lap to the other, always making the kayak tilt back and forth and getting all tangled. Now, I know it was my fault, but I'd had it when she almost made me drop my paddle from getting her leash all tangled with it. Since she's not crazy for water, I'd always tied her leash around my waist and left it attached to her harness. We'd never tested whether she could swim or not, so it just felt safer to leave it on.
When we were about 20 minutes out, I unclasped the leash from her harness, so she could keep walking on top of the kayak. Of course, Murphy's law kicked in. Not even five minutes later, she tried to jump over my friend's shoulder from behind to get into her lap. I still remember it as if it were slow motion. She headbutted my friend's back and did the most magnificent side-rolling-onto-her-back flop into the lake. Mind you, it was about 55° F out, so the water was not warm. In the 2 seconds of me dying from laughing, I realized she hadn't popped back up. And cue panic. I pulled on the leash and realized I had taken it off her. I was about to scream for her and start jumping in when out of the water pops up this little head, shivering and absolutely terrified. Because we'd been paddling fairly quickly, our momentum had kept us going, so at this point, we're in the middle of the lake, not able to see from laughing so hard, trying to backpaddle, while Zoey swims back and forth next to our kayak trying to get back in. She got close enough and I hoisted her up by the harness into my lap. Surprisingly enough, despite the cold, she was not freaking out. In my human brain, I figured she realized that if she kept moving around, she'd fall back in. Not sure if she connected the dots like that, but she just sat on my lap, completely soaked, and completely still.
On the paddle back, a few otter pups decided to swim next to us. Zoey, with her incredible short memory span, decided to investigate them, leaning over the side of the kayak. Her nose barely touched the water when she remembered where she was, making her jump to try and sit on my shoulder and rocking the kayak like crazy. When we finally made it back to the dock, she'd had enough of it. She jumped out of the kayak and made a beeline for the store. While we haven't had a chance to go back out, I've learned enough from the experience to never let her offleash near water again. Although, she may have learned enough too to simply not even get out of the car next time we pull up to the dock.