That God Intended

So I just enjoyed a really nice time with my dog. 

Initially, she and I had just headed out for a jog, but it's hot out, and it didn't take long for me to realize that Filou wanted to have a dip in the lake that was near the fields where we were running. 

At the lake, I found a stick and threw it in the water. Splash! Filou immediately jumped in after it. When she brought the stick back to me, I decided to walk over to a nearby dock.

The dock was weatherworn and rickety, but I trusted that it was stable, and from it, I threw the stick into the water. Splash! Without hesitation, Filou jumped off the dock and into the water. The distance between the platform and the water had to be at least four feet, or a little more than a meter, so the splash she made this time was a huge one. 

As Filou swam toward the stick, I looked around. About 300 yards to my left, a man in a boat was fly fishing, and on the other side of the lake, I saw kids taking turns jumping off a pier, into the water. 

Filou looked adorable, swimming back to the shore with the stick in her mouth. 

Because I had just gone running, I thought it would be wise to stretch, and no better or nicer a place to do so than there on the dock, I figured. After all, the sun wasn't too hot and the sound of the lake water lapping against the shore was very calming. 

As I stretched, Filou was right by my side, sitting on her haunches. She had already dropped the stick and had shaken off and was just waiting for me to right myself and grab the stick. When I did, she ran back down to the shore and jumped into the water. Splash!

From the dock, I watched her swim around, anticipating the moment when the stick would leave my hands. She was so cute. Usually, it's hard to see Filou's body when she's swimming, as it's submerged. But thanks to my vantage point on the dock, I was able to see all of Filou as she doggy paddled. Her front legs seemed to be doing all the work, but on further inspection, I saw that her back legs were kicking, too. She looked so pretty, squinting up at me there in the water. She was swimming close to the shore, back and forth through a mass of algae. The water was lit up in spots by the sun and was about the same color as the algae. When I threw the stick, Filou doggy paddled toward it, the flaps of her ears partially in the water. 

What a beautiful day, I thought, standing there on the wooden dock.  This is the kind of day that God intended.