It is amazing how they can communicate without words...

I'm home alone. The dogs are in their pen outside, as usual. I was painting for a while when I happened to notice that my phone didn't work. I immediately felt uncomfortable, realizing that I am alone on a big piece of land, practically in a forest. I started to calculate how long it would take me to run downstairs and open the door to the dogs' pen, in case of dealing with an intruder. In this very minute I heard the door sliding and all three dogs were suddenly standing in the doorway to my work studio. They know they are not allowed here.

Have they developed the habit of guarding me when I am alone?

Is it a coincidence that they forced their way into the house immediately after I got this uneasy feeling about being helpless?

Do I make those stories up for myself with my romantic soul or do they really read my mind?

These are my first dogs and I am still learning.

While traveling up north, I learned that in certain situations, I cease caring about looking and acting like a lady and my endless enthusiasm for all aspects of life decreases... My friends and I joined a group of whale watchers in a fishing boat and headed out to the open sea. It was a dreary, rainy day but I liked it anyway and was excitedly taking pictures. Someone spotted whales breaching, leaping out of the water, so the captain stopped the boat.

The arctic wind blew rain into my face as the boat started to roll with the waves. The captain's daughter offered me a pair of binoculars but I suddenly lost interest in looking for the whales. As the wind swung the boat more intensely, I looked around for a better place to get out of the spray. The others on the boat used the binoculars, and thank goodness, no one payed attention to me because I wasn't feeling very gracious.

My stomach was becoming more and more nauseated as the wind kept tossing the boat. I realized that I was suffering from the legendary seasickness and felt embarrassed. I didn't want anybody to notice. After the next wave I tried to keep from throwing up. Then another wave hit the boat and I thought, “Oh no, not on the floor!!!” In the next second I was bent over, hanging over the railing. “Are you okay?” asked the captain's daughter. I didn't bother to answer.

“Whales! Whales! Sooo big! Sooo great!” I heard. I struggled to lift my head. Yes, there were those magnificent animals delivering an impressive performance. But before I lifted the camera and pushed the shutter button there was only a tail to be seen.

The captain said proudly to one of my friends that his daughter knows the sea better than he. She predicted that today's wave would make only one person sick. And I had to laugh when I learned that they never even mentioned that they knew me.😀