A couple of years ago, my husband and I ran in the Bournemouth Half Marathon. It’s the only one we’ve ever run in together. The race started from a place called Hengistbury Head. It looked interesting, so I’d decided that I’d go back one day.

Yesterday, I told my husband that I planned to go there with the dog today and asked if he’d like to come. He wasn’t sure. I asked again this morning, but he didn’t want to come. He said that he’d rather enjoy a bit of time on his own at home.

It’s about fifty minutes drive from the house. I wound down the back window of the car and the dog stuck her face out as dogs do. When she wasn’t enjoying the fresh air, she was squeaking with excitement. In that regard, I am glad that hubby didn’t come. I can deal with her excitement, but I can’t deal with with him shouting at her!

I parked at the big car park near where the half marathon coaches had dropped us. There was a bit of a breeze, which made me question the shorts, vest, and summer shirt for a while.

The dog and I walked up to the top of the headland, where we had splendid views across to Bournemouth, The Needles on the Isle of Wight, and towards the New Forest. The headland, whilst higher than the surrounding landscape, isn’t that high really. And the breeze never got strong. The afternoon slowly got warmer, until it felt more like June than early April.

From the hill, we walked along the spit towards Mudeford. There were beach huts lining the waterfront – these are clearly luxury huts, and I think that many of them even had small sleeping quarters! They were beautiful brightly coloured, and very well maintained.

The dog enjoyed splashing around in the water and she brought a smile to my soul. Such innocent joy that our darling doggy pets bring!

We walked back through woodland to where the car was parked, then crossed over to another beach. The groynes formed a wall that she could not climb, so I carried her down to the sand and let her run free, thinking that she was safe.

Fool! I should know that the groynes are always much steeper on one side than the other! At first, she was very good, running away and returning when called. However, I hadn’t noticed that at the far end of the enclosed area on the beach there were some fellas fishing.

With her ears flapping like wings, she ran towards them as soon as she noticed they were there, ignoring my calls and whistles, which were drowned out by the waves.

Another dog, who was also not on a lead, saw her from the pathway above the beach, and the groyne at that far end was much shallower. The two dogs chased each other round and round. It was lovely to see, them enjoying themselves, even if she was being a naughty minx!

Of course, I managed to catch her and pop her lead back on, and everybody was lovely about it.

To end the day, I sat on a bench and watched the world go by for a while.

Peace!