April 20, 2003
(to the tune of the Jane Sibbery tune...)
Dusty on the Beach, Dusty on the Beach, Dusty on the Beeeeaaaach.
9:00 p.m.
I really wish we hadn't gone to the Beach today, but we did and boy, was it ever a hassle. I thought it would be festive to go today, because there's a little parade over on Queen East. Bad idea.
It started out fun, though. Dusty and I went to Futures Bakery for Banana Pancakes (actually, I had the pancakes and Dusty ate kibble). The patio is self-serve right now, so I had to leave Dusty out by the table while I went in to order. She was a bit nervous about this, but didn't panic *too* much.
Transit to the beach was a nightmare. We couldn't even get a seat on the Queen streetcar. A gentleman asked me about my puppy, then offered his seat - it was very gallant of him, I think. Incredibly, before I could take it, a youngish woman in a turquoise velour track suit sat right down! I couldn't believe it.
I found my moxie and spoke up: "Excuse me, that gentleman vacated the seat specifically so I could sit down with my puppy." She looked around, as if to find support and saw only angry glares, so she got back up. I was so grateful for that seat - it would have been hard to stand there holding Dusty for 20 minutes.
When we got off the streetcar, it was obvious that there was no possible way we were going to get close to that parade, so I decided that we would head down to the water instead. We started to go down a street west of Woodbine, but there was a sprawling new condo development on that block and it was nearly impossible to get to the beach from that road. I finally had to hop a fence - a cop watched me do it, but I could tell he was sympathetic.
So, we finally made it to the beach and Dusty was exhausted. We sat on some rocks by the water. Dusty tried to eat some sand and spent the rest of the afternoon with a little bit of sand on her nose! She liked running around in the sand, but I could tell that she was a bit wary of the water. She watched in amazement as a big weimaraner jumped *into* the water and swam around.
Around 4:00, we headed back up to Queen to catch the streetcar. We waited and waited and waited at the stop, but nothing came. Finally, a bus pulled up - I got on, not really fussy about *where* it was going. I was just sick of standing (and Dusty was tired of sleeping on an 'Eye Magazine' box).
A man with a mullet told us that the bus circled around on Lakeshore and eventually ended up at the Woodbine subway station. Incredibly, he was correct! We circled all the way around, past the very beach we had visited. Fortunately, we got a seat because the bus was empty when we got on. By the time it got to the beach, though, it was very crowded. We were glad to see the subway station and thanked Mullet Man as we departed.
Dusty had a nap in the evening and made a full recovery from the day. We even went for a walk before the thunderstorms hit. All in all, it was a good day! Happy Easter!
Dusty in a 'down-stay' as I'm eating my brunch (Futures Bakery)