Even though wet snow was falling and Aki was cuddled up under her owner’s bed, I wanted to go with her on a walk. In a few minutes, we’d be getting into a friend’s car for a drive out to a beach trail. Aki eventually crawled out from under the bed and let me dress her in outdoor gear. But when we walked out the front door she looked board and even tried to circle back into the house. Then our friend drove up.

            Aki, who thinks him her best friend, dashed to his car. She was already set up on his front seat by the time I sat in one of his second row passenger seats. Aki was the only one not wearing a covid mask.

            Sunshine broke through the clouds by the time we reached the beach trail. It lit up the storm fragments formed over Stephens Passage. A streak of thick sunshine hit the ocean water and lit a thick line across the bay and onto the snow-covered beach. Then clouds returned, eating up the sunlight in the process. But we had seen and enjoyed the sunny moments provided by the shifting clouds.