Tybee Tyme

Up early for a sunrise beach walk. Half the sky was dark the other half a mixture of light and dark clouds. We discussed should we go or stay at the Cottage? Then it started sprinkling rain. We went anyway. We could take the car for refuge. It was raining harder when we got to the Lighthouse. One of the long boardwalks to the beach has a beautiful gazebo about a third of the way down the boardwalk. We opted to sit there and see if the rain stopped. We noticed a man laying on the bench with a pillow under his head. He spoke. I was wondering if he might be homeless. I struck up a conversation with him. If you know me you are not surprised by this!  Poor guy. Two nights ago he drove all night to Savannah because his 78 year old mother was taken to the hospital while she was on a seniors trip. She was still in the hospital and he couldn't sleep so he drove out to Tybee to see the sunrise and the Lighthouse. His mother had not made it to Tybee and wanted a picture of the Lighthouse. He was from near Nashville, Tennessee. He mentioned he was an airplane pilot by trade. His former company had folded and he had been unemployed for 6 months. He was finishing up training at another freight type company. He was worried they might call him in before he could get back to Tennessee. He had not been to Savannah or Tybee before. I gave him some pointers on where to eat, the beaches and the best places to photograph the Lighthouse. It stopped raining and we bid him farewell and expressed our hopes for his Mothers swift recovery. The breeze was awesome so we sat on one of the many Tybee swings and noticed the clouds were turning shades of pink. A large reddish ship rounded the turn and came into view at the same time.

The clouds actually sometimes make for an even prettier sunrise. That was true today.

We decided to walk towards the rocks and check out some surfers we saw carrying their boards.

Tybee doesn't allow dogs on the beach for safety and sanitary issues. I told Mike I know I heard a dog bark. The surf and wind made it hard to hear. I didn't see a dog but then I heard the bark again. I finally  realized there was a dog but he was near the large rocks and he was swimming as his master was surf fishing. He was a big husky yellow Lab. 

He was a good dog. He stayed stayed right with his owner as he waded out in the surf. Even when it meant waves were crashing over his head and he had to swim for it. It was getting close to 8:00 a.m. and they came out of the water and walked the Dog back off the beach leaving their chairs and fishing gear on the beach. Before they left the beach the Lab raced around in wide circles running full out just like Hershey used to do around our Mountain house. I can still hear the sound of him running. For all the world he sounded exactly like a horse at full gallop.

As we were walking back we noticed a cloud that at least to both of us looked like Hershey. Mike said he is still watching over us. We both shed a tear or two.