All the Facts

Anyone who knows me well and has met my dogs Rose and Lily know that I love my dogs. I treat them very well and do everything I can to keep them happy and healthy. Tybee Island does not allow dogs on the beach. I understand the reasons. People don't seem to be willing to clean up after themselves at the beach and dogs can leave reminders that no one wants to step in. The other issue is that the beach is often very busy and dogs can be unpredictable. You may think your dog would never bite. You may be right. Do you want to take the chance with lots of kids at the beach that it won't happen? I don't. When I went to the SCAD Sand Arts Festival on Friday I stood on the pier and took this picture.

First, there is a dog on the beach. Second, I think the dog must have been hungry because he appears to have eaten a large portion of the bottom of that girl's swimsuit. My initial reaction was to wonder where animal control was and why they or the police were not enforcing the no pets on the beach rule. A bit later in the morning another dog joined in the same group working on that sand sculpture. It isn't my place to enforce the rules and I am not one to run to the authorities and complain. I assume they know their job and would address the issue at some point during the day. I went by several times in my effort to get pictures of the art works in progress and the dogs were always well behaved and quiet.

They are the group in the background of this picture.

Both dogs are in the background of this picture.

Their work is coming along nicely and the dogs are still there and well behaved.

This is the last shot I took which shows one of the dogs and the completed art work. It was taken as I was getting ready to leave the beach and go have a couple of beers. As I walked past I noticed in the pile of personal belongings behind the sculpture a pair of vests identifying the dogs as service animals. What the disability of the owners were I have no idea. In a larger sense it doesn't matter. The dogs were on the beach doing their job. It was warm, the UV index was extreme and the service vests were black. Had the dogs been wearing them all day they would have suffered. My frustration and anger over their presence on the beach had been completely misplaced. To be completely honest I had been both stupid and wrong.

I said all that to say this. Our current president has done lots of things that appear on the surface to be very wrong or at a minimum stupid. There are many in Congress and the press calling for his impeachment and trial in the Senate. I think, given what I have seen and heard to this point, those voices may be correct. May is not a certain word and for this I want us to be certain. Let the investigation proceed. Let the evidence be presented. Let us all come to a point where we are not saying may but knowing for sure what has happened. I was wrong about those dogs. I want all of us to be right about this.