This could be a story about what Aki does not do. She does not bother the people roasting marshmallows over a fire they built down beach from us. She doesn’t swim after a pink salmon that jumps just off shore. The little dog doesn’t even rub her back against one of the rotting dog salmon caucuses that dot this shore of Smuggler’s Cove.

While I impale a fancy version of a tofu pup on a metal rod, she whines next to her orange Frisbee. She nudges my leg with her nose until I pick up her toy and fling it for her to chase. Her other humans and I manage to cook and eat a healthy hot dog meal while she takes turns asking each of us to throw the Frisbee.

After dinner we talk, and throw Aki’s toy, and watch lambs wool clouds descend on the Chilkat Range. Holes form in the clouds that reveal blue sky, summer sun, and sometimes release shafts of light that light the sea and sky with a focused beam.