Photo by : Barbara Ryther
Witness
As I approach the entrance to my favorite walking beach, I notice something new – a small evergreen tree planted firmly in the sand, with what looks like Christmas decorations. Drawing closer I see that the tree is crowned by a lobster claw, and hanging from its branches are garlands of seaweed, curled strips of birch bark, fragments of driftwood… and dog toys.
A large tag flutters in the stiff breeze coming off the breaking surf. It reads “Gratitude and Remembrance Tree” and encourages passers by to add something to the tree to remember loved ones. Whatever the original intent, the tree has become a memorial to dogs – presumably dogs that once spent joyous time on this beach.
This time of year dogs sometimes outnumber people here. I love watching them and their individual reactions to both the beach and the ocean. There are the ones who love nothing more than being in the water, no matter how cold it gets. I watched someone once stand by the edge of the breaking waves for 20 minutes, throwing a ball over and over again into the surf as a large dog hurled himself headlong into the water to retrieve it over and over again. A great contrast to a dog I once introduced to the ocean at that very spot, and watched him trot curiously toward the edge of an outgoing wave, only to retreat frantically as the edge of the water turned and swirled back toward him.
I have seen dogs demanding to be carried after only a few steps on the sand, and others who seemed to be shot out of canons the minute they were let off their leashes. Other dogs will spend their time carefully sniffing out every small little pile of seaweed, or rolling luxuriously in them. One winter day I watched a dog gleefully roll down the steep, snow covered lawn of one of the beach houses, only to gallup back up and do it again. And again. And again. Some dogs are too caught up in beachy things to pay attention to strangers, while others have seemingly developed a knack for spotting me as someone who is almost sure to be able to find just the right spot on their back or behind their ear to scratch
I don’t have any dog toys to put on the remembrance tree, so I search out a lacy bit of seaweed to gently tuck it into the branches. I look at the pictures of dogs who have passed away this year, and imagine the dogs that once loved the toys that are hanging there. Although none of these dogs were mine, I am grateful to remember them, and their witness to joy.
My wish is that we may all be witnesses to joy in whatever way we can this Christmas and in the coming year.
Barbara Ryther