Dog and I went for a walk on the beach late this afternoon and spotted a seal. Normally, I can’t see camouflaged wildlife easily, because of my poor eyesight, so I’m always inordinately excited when I do see something. The sun had already passed behind the dunes, but the sky was still bright, and the water reflecting it was a light turquoise color and very calm — perfect conditions to notice something stirring.

I was walking along, admiring the water, when I saw a largish head break the surface, look toward the shore, and then dive back under. I have seen beached seal pups on the island before, and herds of seals (or was it sea lions?) out in California, but this was the first swimming seal I’d seen at our beach. I scanned the water until I saw it surface again, about twenty yards down the beach in the direction we had been walking. The next time it submerged, I kept walking in the same direction, and when it surfaced again it was parallel to us, and much closer to the shoreline. Even Dog noticed it and went on point. If he were a Lab, he would have been in the water trying to play with it, but luckily Dog is too sensible to swim when he’s wearing his winter coat .

If we get our referral tomorrow, I’m going to start spreading a meme that seals are the hot new adoption harbinger. Unfortunately, that leaves those of you inland dwellers out in the precursory cold, so you’ll need to come up with an alternative. Cockroaches? They’re everywhere.