We hear the waves when still deep in the forest. The sound track does not match the calm, quiet place. No wind disturbs the snow covering the forest floor and the old growth trees.   No eagle screams, no raven croaks. If the tiny wrens and chickadees feeding in the canopy are sounding their work chants, I can’t hear them over the wind.

Aki trots ahead, sometimes riveted by scent. Her discoveries can’t be recent deposits. No one has tracked the snowy trail today. When we reach the beach, Aki sprints ahead and out of sight, like she does when spotting another dog. Then she charges back toward me with an intense look on her face. When I start to follow her, she sprints ahead again. I’ll find her where the trail cuts back into the woods giving me her “are you crazy” stare.