six hours in another country

Sophie and me, Point Pelee, Ontario, Canada.

One of the best things about living in metro Detroit is that at any given moment, you can throw up your hands, and say "That's it! I've had it! I'm fleeing the country!" And 30 minutes later you're in Canada.

That's what I did today. Donna whisked me away across the border this morning to Point Pelee. Our plan was to watch thousands of migrating monarch butterflies, but we were told at the visitor center that the weather was too warm and we wouldn't see them that day. We had a great time anyway, walking down to the Point, taking photos, and hanging out with Sophie, who was not thrilled with the beach environment.

After the Point, we walked back down the trail and ran into two women who had two pomeranians. Now, Sophie's fur is a matted, horrible mess. In my hectic last two months, her grooming has been put on the back burner. She gets a bath, but the meticulous brushing and trimming she needs has been nonexistent. But I wanted to meet the two poms, so I walked over to them. Up close, they were immaculately groomed, shiny, silky, and tangle free. Every movement sent their flowing fur in ripples down their glistening bodies. I've never seen such perfect poms. And here comes Sophie, tangled, messy, and clumpy, covered in sand from the beach, with a twig stuck to her butt. She looked like Pig Pen.

Turns out, the owner is a professional dog GROOMER. I was mortified. What are the chances?? Sophie had never looked worse in her entire life, and here we meet a pom groomer. She recommended that I shave Sophie down to 1/4" or so and just basically start over. And believe me, she's right. That's how bad the situation is. So the two poms, after sniffing Sophie's appropriate body parts, went on their way. I picked up my gritty, knotted, slightly stinky dog and we watched them leave, the sun reflecting off their silky backs and their perfect tails waving like plumes down the trail.

Donna, walking out to the Point.

After that, we hopped back in the car, ate some crackers with hummus, trail mix, cheese, and my yummy carrot/apple/celery/orange juice concoction I had juiced this morning. Are we healthy, or what? We drove to the marsh, where there is a lookout tower and boardwalk trail.

The boardwalk trail through the marsh. And canoes!

And that was my 6-hour getaway to Canada. Now I'm off to shave my dog.