If I could read my daughter's mind I'd probably read something like this. "What am I doing out here with a baby, a dog, and a blind woman?" It's a good thing I can't read her mind, she may be thinking something worse.
Alexa said the high would be 81 degrees and nice weather was expected. So out of the blue I asked Andrea if she wanted to go somewhere. She asked where would I like to go. I remember her mentioning a place with a rock in the middle of the lake that was close by. She went online to find directions to Burbank Beach.
Now don't get all weird on me; beach in South Dakota. Yes, there is a quite nice beach here.
We proceed to get ready. I put on my swimsuit and then my clothes. Andrea does the same. Then she packs up Jason's diaper bag. Off we go.
Heading to the beach on a Sunday morning is new for us. Not only because we now live in South Dakota but I've never been a liker of sand. to add to that, I've recently gone inactive from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Few active members would dream of doing anything on Sunday other than going to church or something spiritual at home or at a friend's or relative's home.
We pile into the van; Andrea, Jason, Sparkles, and I. We make for a most unusual group. Jason was one day short of turning six weeks old. Sparkles is a sixteen-year-old Pekingese; we call him an old gentleman. I am blind; just light perception. Andrea is my youngest daughter.
We park, gather up our things, Sparkles, and Jason. The dirt, or should I say sand, road is closed to vehicles from this point on. We have a walk of about three quarters of a mile to the lake. The going is good at first. Then we walk through some kind of dry, dead vegetation. I called it thistles but they weren't prickly. Sparkles didn't want to walk through it so I started carrying him. Andrea has Jason, the diaper bag, and the blanket. I have Sparkles, my cane and a bag of snacks and things. I learned I was sadly out of shape. I slipped while going down a sandy incline. I put sparkles down but he didn't want to move while I got up. Next I put Sparkles on my shoulder and held him by his harness. This worked until he began to choke. Down he goes again but now we're out of the thistles and into shifting sand. Sparkles wants to walk in front of me and is a real hazard. I take the blanket from Andrea and she takes Sparkles. that was the longest three quarters of a mile I can remember.
Now for all the things we forgot. We forgot how the wend blows here. We had such a time getting the blanket spread out. I tried holding it while Andrea put the diaper bag down. Other corners would take to flight before we could drop some driftwood on it or plunk ourselves down. the blanket was sandy before we had a chance to sit on it. So there we sit. Guess who needs to pee? Me.
"Take off your shorts and wade into the water," Andrea suggests, "Then pee."
I take off my shorts, stand up and start walking. "There's a little step of a drop off." Andrea warns. Because I have no idea when I'll reach this drop off, or how far it actually is, I immediately sit down. I figured I could scooch to the water, bypass the drop off and then stand up. The best laid plans.......My feet hit the water, COLD. Feet out of the water, back up, stand up. "Is there anyone around?" I ask.
"No," Andrea replied.
"I'll just pee right here." Peeing while dressed and standing is a "skill" I learned from my grandmother. Learn everything you can from everyone you can.
I thought we could use a cloth diaper over Jason as sun protection. Wrong. The wend blew so much the diaper wouldn't stay put and we didn't have anything else to weigh it down with. For the most part we watch him and Andrea shaded him with her body.
At some point Andrea took Sparkles to the rock island in the middle of the lake via an underwater bridge. He didn't want to go at first but later he was playing in the water. Andrea took pictures of us from a distance, and video of Sparkles in the water.
I put some sand in Jason's hands so he could experience a new texture. I told him wend when there were strong gusts. I pointed to the sun and told him what it was. When Sparkles and Andrea got back I put Jason's hand on Sparkles and said, "Wet dog".
I didn't want to carry Sparkles so I asked Andrea if there was another way back.She said there was but it's longer. I asked if there were thistles and she said no. I said we should take the longer way back. The bags and blankets got heavier with every few steps.
"that was fun," one of us said, "I'm glad we came."
As you can see, I' haven't written on this blog for some time. I've been going through major changes in my life. If you read my last photography blog, Blind As Eye Look you'll learn about my going blind I also talk about selling my house and moving to South Dakota. Beazle Passed away August 2016. The Beazler is a blog I dedicated to her; but it's also a place for me to talk about what's on my mind. I came out as an atheist on my last Beazler blog. I'm working on how this blog will be different from The Beazler. I'm thinking this may turn into my adventures as a blind person. I haven't decided yet. I'm open to suggestions.
