At this particular spot in the river, there is a small quiet bend in the river, where the water rushing over the rocks cannot quite reach. It's shallow enough for walking around in, with a few deeper pools to cool oneself in easily. There are also many larger rocks reaching above the line of the water that one can either walk on or sit and sun bathe on. I choose to sit and watch Kimi play.

Kimi watched me cross from rock to rock without getting wet and lo and behold our brainy little love pup did the same! I watched her as she gently tiptoed from one rock to another, her nails digging in like a cat to a chalk board. If she could have been gripping with those toes to avoid getting wet she would have. But Kimi surprised me with her ingenuity too. There were a few rocks underneath the water line, where you couldn't always tell the real depth of the water above the rock. Being one of bold adventure and longer legs, I didn't mind getting my feet wet. Kimi, being one of bold nature but short legs, erred on the side of caution. I watched, amazed as she came to the first rock under the water and reached out a tentative white paw, blazing in the sun light, to dig at the surface of the water. Reaching down toenail by toenail, she kept pawing at the water until she could feel the rock underneath. If it was not to far under, Kimi would then go ahead and step on to it. Letting her flexilead all the way out to give her room to play, I moved on to my chosen rock and sat down dangling my toes in the frigid waters.

Kimi decided to join me on the rock closest to me and I watched as she tiptoed her way across the rocks to one near my side. Once there she too sat down, and I looked on amazed she she sat there occasionally dipping her toes into the water as well. There we sat, we two girls sunning ourselves and dangling our toes in the chilly water. I was content to sit there for hours, for much longer then I should. Kimi however soon began to look for fun.

Standing up carefully on her rock, balancing precariously on the slippery edge I watched as she leaned over. Way over. I cautioned her to be careful and she looked up at the sound of my voice to give me that happy go lucky sort of grin of hers. Glancing back down she happened to see an old tree seed floating by on top of the water. Quickly she dipped her head to grab a hold of this and as she did her feet slipped. I could hear the sound of nail scrapping rock, knowing she was trying desperately to back peddle as hard as she could. Just as I reached to steady her, her tenuous hold gave way. Kimi's ears stood straight up as her face dipped closer to the water and her tail end reached...well it reached for the sky. Before I could grab her, under she went!

Now, most dogs would just go for gravity and let it pull them on into the water, thereby freeing up their face. Not so with Kimi. We all know she has her own way of doing things. Instead of going on in and getting her behind wet while rescuing her face, Kimi tried to back up. Her back feet were scrambling madly trying to find a good hold while her front feet were floundering helplessly in the water. Knowing her face was under the water and knowing that dogs don't normally hold their breath I quickly pulled her up before she could take on water and drown.

Scooping up a half soggy dog in my arms I sat her down on the gravel surface of the little island in the middle of the lagoon. Expecting her to be coughing and spluttering I kneeled down next to her and asked her if she were okay. Answering my with a soggy shake of her body, showering me in the process, her feet danced their way over the tiny rocks. Giving her a chance to get the water out of her ears I asked her again and was rewarded with an ear to ear grin and a hearty "YIP!" Okay, so I was wrong. Kimi can hold her breath under water! Not once did she cough, splutter or choke.

Blinking her eyes quickly a couple of times, she looked up to me with her wet tongue dripping lazily from the corner of her mouth. Eyes sparkling like the sun on the water she looked like a half drowned rat. A happy half drowned rat. I laughed as I shook one of her soggy ears free from where it was plastered to the side of her head. Kimi jerked her head up and back once and shouted "YIP" again. I think she was laughing with me.

Warning her to be careful again I moved back to my rock and sat down to watch her play. Now keep in mind this is the very same girl who just this time last year HATED anything to do with water. My how times and Kimi have changed. I watched a a leaf lazily floated toward Kimi rocking slowly up and down on the waters surface like a small rubber raft. Kimi spotted it too. I watched her tiny head bob up and down as she watched this little "boat" from nature drift toward her. As it drew closer her grin got bigger. And as it drew closer to her, her head lifted up and back. Her ears perked to full attention and those little black eyes lit up like a Christmas moon. As Kimi drew herself back, watching this little bobbing boat keenly, her front feet almost cleared the rocks. I watched as her back legs muscles bunched and tightened and suddenly with a loud and mighty "YIP!" Kimi launched a full scale assault.

What she was not aware of however was that while this boat lazily bee-boped along over the waters surface, it had also drifted into unchartered waters. Deeper unchartered waters. As Kimi launched herself up and forward, her little mouth opened to grab this "boat" up. Like the Great White Whale, Kimi was set to scoop it into her jaws. Throwing her upper body into the game, her nose hit the surface of the water. Then did her chin, then her jaws, her cheeks, her eyebrows, the top of her head, her snowy white chest, her legs all the way to her shoulders. As her body continued forward, it also sank into the murky depths. I laughed out loud as I watched her upper body sink from sight as her back legs scrambled for a good toe hold. Gravity had taken over where her brain failed to work and under she went for a good old fashioned dunking!

As her back legs finally managed to gain strength over the pull of the gravity, and her tow hold held fast, Kimi managed to back her way out of the water. Again our brave little fish had held her breath until she felt the confront of air hit her head. Taking in a nighty breath Kimi sneezed the water out of her nostrils ..."WWFFFT...WWFFTT.." Shaking her head, with her body following suit Kimi had water diamonds showering around her in the sunlight. Once finished with her mermaid water dance, Kimi stood there, looking much like a bedraggled water rat. Her ears were dripping wet, and plastered to her head. Her eyebrows had huge water drops hanging from each, and she blinked as rapidly as a toad in a hail storm when they kept sliding down to her cheeks. Crystal water droplets fell all around her from each and every hair, darkening the gravel around her to a steel gray.

Sitting perched on my rock still I smiled as I saw this .......look.......come over her face. One could see the delight forming in her head as slowly her eyes brightened, her smile grew and her head lifted. I could almost see the impish glee building in there as her brain wheels turned faster and faster. Looking all around her feet slowly, taking in the wet sand and small rocks on this little private island of hers, Kimi had figured out she was standing on a gold mine of joy. Looking up to me, pink tongue draping out the corner of her smiling face, I could hear the laughter building in her heart. With one joyful "YIP!" Kimi did a perfect front shoulder tuck and roll.

Scraping her head along the ground, her front feet digging in to the soft wet sand Kimi pulled herself along on her right side. Her tiny head worked its way back and forth as her back feet joined in to push her body forward. Reaching an area of small gravel, Kimi quickly rolled over onto her back. Twisting her body quickly from side to side, her back feet now doing a bicycle pump in mid air, Kimi shouted an upside down "YIP!" Funny how it sounds the same even when it's upside down or comes from an upside down Kimi. Scratching her back along the tiny rocks, her body doing an almost inch worm sort thing. Her tummy humped up toward the sky, then as it went down her head and back end came up, like she was doing tummy crunches. She managed to work her way across the ground, over rocks and through wet sand in just this way. My own eyes had to have been sparkling with joy as I watched her unsuspectingly head her way right back toward the waters edge. With her inch worming her way toward the water, her rhythm had set itself so that JUST as she reached the edge of the water, her head and tail end lifted up. I held my breath as they quickly fell toward the ground and her tummy arched up again.

Just as her head fell, her body scooted a little closer to the water. And as her head came to rest, SPLASH.....TOUCH DOWN........in the WATER! Head first! I laughed as her shocked body quickly twisted, and up she jumped. Her right ear was plastered against her tiny head so the point was pointed downward. The left ear hadn't gotten wet yet so it still stood......defiantly straight up. be it nice or not I laughed even harder as this picture our graceful little girl made. One ear plastered down to look like a hound dog, the other standing straight up in shock.

Kimi didn't appear to be to bothered by her self dunking though. Out popped her delightful tongue as it pierced beyond her smile. Gathering herself together, Kimi took off at a good run across the small island and as she neared the opposite side she again did her little tuck to the front shoulder and roll trick. As she did this her tail went up up up over appetite and landed KERSLPASH in the water on the other side! She laid there for a brief second, pink tongue dipping into the sand as she grinned from ear to ear with her tail still cooling off in the water.

Suddenly scrambling her feet back up under her, she was off and running again. This time instead of racing to the other side of her world, Kimi executed a near perfect summer-sault in the sand pit, where she rolled over and over. Deciding nothing felt better than a sand coated back scratching, Kimi rolled and twisted and turned her tiny little body every which way but loose. My sides felt like they were splitting with laughter as I watched our happy little girl, face down in the sand having the time of her life. Keeping one cheek and shoulder to the ground at all times, Kimi's little water logged rear end popped up. Using her back feet to propel herself in a tight circle, Kimi went round and round. Twisting and turning several times, when she stood up she had about a pound of sand stuck to her head and ear. Which she then proceeded to shake free in a shower of grit and grime. Once she had shaken them and herself silly, she then threw herself onto the game and the sand all over again.

By the time Kimi had decided she had rubbed all the water off her body and covered herself fully with sand and dirt, she was one happy little camper. Standing there on her own private little island looking mighty pleased with herself and life she looked perfectly content to be where she was right then. Looking to me Kimi smiled and delicately walked through the shallows to the rock closest to me. Cautiously stepping up to the top, she sat down in splendid silence. Looking out over the water, the sun shining down atop her head, nothing could have been more right in her little world at that time. And so there we sat as the sun slowly slipped beyond the tree tops across the water, side by side on our own rocky perch, watching the water and the world go by us on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Knowing in our hearts in a few short days we would be headed home and back to work and the real world again. Knowing we would be leaving our peaceful quiet corner of the world behind for some other lucky camper to find. Yet also knowing right at that very moment none of that matter. All that matter was the peace we had in our life right then.

Sometimes the best memories come from the briefest of times. It all depends on how you see it. When we carry the joy and the peace in our hearts, it can last us for a long long time.

Walk In Beauty
Kristi & Kimi