It was cloudy this morning as we prepared to leave the house just minutes before 6 a.m. and it was still very cloudy after we looped back up to the end of fire station road, then doubled back to the station, crossed Kamehameha Highway at Swanzy Beach Park, stopped to deliver the morning’s dog biscuits to three of our favorite dogs, then got to the beach just minutes after the sun made its appearance. It never did rain, although we were glad to have our umbrellas just in case.

We did get some bad news yesterday morning. Jeff and Melinda had to say goodbye to Mr. Axel, who has been one of our favorite walk dogs for years. In the last year, getting to the beach had become very difficult for Axel, and Jeff started taking him on walks in back of the school. Axel got his own ramp to get in and out of the house when climbing stairs got to be too much for him. The last picture I could find of Axel on the beach dates back to March.

Axel was adopted after he retired from a career as a seeing eye dog. He was always very mellow, and in his prime would run the length of the beach to get his daily dog biscuit. It was hard to find anyone, human or canine, that didn’t like Axel.

We’re really going to miss him.

Funny how attached we can become to the dogs that we see regularly on our daily walks. We obviously don’t have any formal relationship, but we end up knowing quite a bit about the dogs and their people. In these circumstances, knowledge leads to a sense of responsibility and connectedness. Our mental map of the neighborhood now includes the dozens of dogs who have become part of our morning experience, and we feel the loss of any of them.