It’s been a rough week.

Couple weeks, really.

I’ve been getting in the water almost every morning as a salve. A sliver of good news when I woke up today was that Analog Sun is the #1 New Release in the category…of all things…Surfing.

And so I felt marginally on point, as far as practicing what I preach, heading down to the beach this morning with my board under my arm. I followed a woman walking a little puppy, who stumbled over his tiny feet in his pursuit of curious joy.

Oh, to be that way again.

I passed them while the owner was tied up with her phone, trying to capture every moment. As I sat down on the sand to stretch, I watched her trying to navigate the relative importance of the leash and the device. The little puppy stopped his playful turbulence, turned his head on a swivel, and stared at me. He wouldn’t drop his focus, despite his owner’s pleas to look up at the camera…he was locked in.

The main character in Analog Sun hasn’t found much connection with living things, besides his childhood dog. Toward the end of the book, he’s reunited with that dog…I know, doesn’t make sense, but if you’ve read it, you know how that happens. And the joy and love Adam feels, even for a moment, is enough to make all the difference.

That little puppy kept holding my gaze, pulling on the leash until the owner let him come my way. He jumped in my lap, leaned into my stomach, and raised his nose to mine.

And I wrapped my arms around that little puppy, turning my head just enough so the owner wouldn’t see the couple of tears forming at the corner of my eye.

Which he managed to wipe away with his tiny, dry tongue, tinged with puppy breath, before the owner tugged him out of my lap.

With an apology that was more unnecessary than she will ever know.