If I was a cat, I just blew threw one of my 9 lives. You all know that I am crazy for the seal. Yep, I’ve jumped on four of them to date. Everywhere i go I look for them. Mom says they aren’t in Yosemitie’s  rivers or Mammoth lakes, but i know she’s just saying that to cure me of my obsession…not happening! She loves yoga and good beer, so I can have my guilty pleasure…seals! I look for seals everyday on the beach and sit and watch for them. When I go to Dana Point harbor and hear them I try to get to them by pulling under the rails that keep me behind bars.  Grandpa regularly takes me seal watching on his boat! My parents take me on the pier regularly for seal hunting. Its’ a family affair. Recently, I had my most exciting encounter to date on April 26, 2020. This story is going to sound unbelievable but well it is real life and its what mom calls a miracle. There is a routine the humans have, mom walks me while dad goes surfing and hangs out in the water with seals (so jealous). Only this day, Dad did something entirely different…he said ‘ill walk with you guys on the beach and then I’ll go surfing.’  While walking mom let go of my leash which she normally does and I’ll admit I’m a mommas boy that always stays by her side so that’s why momma lets go of the leash. Occasionally, i swim out to a rock in the water because well, I think the rocks are seals and mom videos me saying, ‘there he is swimming out to another rock that he thinks is a seal.’ This day little did she know, but there was a seal on the rock. She let go of the leash and I ran so far away from mom at least 100 feet to the rock we had already walked by but she had no idea actually had a seal on it. She got out her phone and started filming ‘there he is running to a rock that he thinks that’s a seal.’  She did not have her glasses on. Then dad exclaims some 4 letter words and tells her ‘there is a seal on that rock!’  He starts running (I hear like super man)  to where I am with the seal on the rock but as dad gets closer he can no longer see me and later admits he was terrified as to what he would  find on the other side of the rock where the seal had taken me. 

Dad found the Seal dragging me out to sea drowning me and had my face inside of the seals mouth. Yes inside! It smelled so fishy and stinky, and you know yummy! They told me that the seal was drowning me and pulling me quickly out to sea. Dad ran out into the water and couldn’t see my face because i was drowning and well , my face was in the seals mouth, but dad could see my harness so he grabbed me and started pulling me towards shore, but the seal pulled me the opposite direction. Dad was scared because he thought he was ripping my flesh as he pulled me towards land becuase my face was in smelly seals mouth still and the  seal pulled the opposite direction. Dad lifted me out of the water with the seal still attached to my face. Yes, my face was still in the seals mouth! That’s when mom ran up. Dad was about to punch the seal to get it to let go of me, but mom grabbed the jaws of the seal and got my face out of its mouth.  Yes. mom was screaming sounding like some crazy lady at the sight of my face in the seals mouth.

Mom later told me that she read about someones dog being drowned by a seal and it being mauled under water. I’m so glad that the humans got there when they did. They keep saying its a miracle, because just my nose and mouth were cut. I should have a cold or pneumonia from almost drowning.  It just doesn’t make sense with what happened to me to have me come away unscathed…they can’t wrap their minds around it. I was bloody, but it’s like falling from a building and being ok…it just can’t be explained! They thought I was going to have my eyes ripped out and my face mauled with a missing bunny rabbit ear. Mom says she thinks God spared me because not only does He love me, but He knows she would have beaten herself up forever.  We were at Jalama beach which is out in the middle of nowhere, not near a vet. Mom poured whatever she had in the van on my wounds and well after an hour or so I wanted to go find the seal…i kept dragging her back to the beach to find my new friend or enemy?! P.S. My parents are traumatized and both grateful and can’t explain how I’m ok except by thanking God. They call it a miracle.

 Im learning that although we are all getting older, it’s ok to still have some fire under our butts. Maybe we shouldn’t use that fire to get burned and mom says i could have gotten burned, but she is also impressed with my passion and tenacity in life. I fought cancer hard and now a seal. So friends, let’s cheers to passion and tenacity and remember that life is worth fighting for…that passion can burn us but it can also help keep us alive. My mom told me she sometimes avoids what is difficult. I told her that someotimes we need to run towards the things that may be staring us in the face like a seal, but be willing to know when we are wrong and let others help us. I thought I could take down the seal on my own and I was wrong,  but my parents had my back.  Let’s keep having each others backs in life my friends. Also, mom realized what a blind bat she is without glasses and she won’t be letting me run to rocks any longer. I never knew she was a bat, but hey we are all getting older here…and maybe just maybe my mom, dad, and I will keep living a passionate life with tenacity! I’d say so!

P.S. Enjoy our road trip to Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, Morro Bay, and  Jalama.

P.P.S. The LAST TWO PHOTOS are screen shots from the video where mom thought i was just running to the rock i ‘thought’ was a seal’. You can see HOW FAR they had to run to help me in my brawl with the seal and THE LAST PHOTO SHOWS THE SEAL ON THE ROCK!

One of our favorite Spots!

Looking for seals at nigh with Dad

Rincon

Crab hunting

Picture of the video where mom thought I was just running to a rock, but really a seal. That’s how far they had to run to rescue me!

There’s the seal I brawled with!