I don’t know about you guys but I feel the outdoors calling my name. In fact, I feel the silent pull of the sea calling me. That thought makes me reminisce about my days in Los Angeles during vet school. My vet school was in Pomona, CA and  I could easily get in the car and be at the beach in forty minutes.

My favorite spot and secret hideaway was Balboa Island. I used to take my dog Maya with me. She loved riding the ferry from Balboa Island to Newport Beach. She had her little group of buddies that she liked to say hello to. There was the bulldog who was always chilling with his owner at the Starbucks on the main drag of Balboa and the German Shepherd who lived in a house near the boardwalk at Newport, to name a few. The two of us used to spend hours just walking and people watching. Sometimes we would go to the dog beach at Huntington or the nice dog park nearby as well. One day at the Huntington park we stumbled upon a group of Golden Retrievers having a birthday party.

Sometimes I think about taking Maya back to the beach one last time as she is now geriatric. I’m not really sure of her age as she was a rescue. She was brought into the clinic I was working at prior to vet school by a good Samaritan after being hit by a car.  Shes been my one-eyed,wonder mutt, beach dog ever since. Except now shes my retired beach dog!

Maya and Sam

“Spirit Guides” artwork available at my society6.com store.