Going home soon? It’s inevitable…at some point. My mini-vaca is now 3 weeks+ and I’m thinking my cats might be getting hungry. They have 9 lives anyways, right? Actually 1 of them only has about 2 left. Oh, don’t get your panties bunched up and start calling P.E.T.A., they are being well cared for…but I do miss them!

I needed this get away, I really did. It has been absolutely nothing short of perfect! Lots of food, drink, belly laughs so hard it hurts, walking, talking, reflecting, relaxing, some tears and…adventure! I shared about my first day here (on the beach..for 3+ weeks. Don’t hate) in Angels In Flight, with out a doubt one of the best days of my life!
A few days later, while walking on the beach we see this

We’re all, “Hey, look at that cute puppy swimming!”

As Fido made his way out of the water, it was clear, it wasn’t
a puppy and it was in need of attention.

Without thinking twice, we spring into action…

…both of us. Because that’s how we roll.

He lay on the sand barely breathing, unable to move even the smallest of his whiskers. As the water washes over him, we scream and yell, coaching him to safer grounds. As you see in the pictures, we were the only 2 on the beach that morning…his fate lie in our hands. Screaming wasn’t working so well and by the size of those teeth, mouth to mouth was out of the question…not that it didn’t cross our minds.

We finally managed to get a hold of a rescue. Don’t get me wrong, despite our quick thinking and rescue skills, we had never rescued a seal before…mostly just people. We were told it would be “a while,” are you kidding me? After calling in 17 different voices, with 17 different names and stories, we were asked to explain the seal. Kinda big…but not real big. Dark, flippers, whiskers, oh yeah…and big teeth. “How is his breathing” they ask. Ummm…in and out? “He sounds like he’s fine, just resting.” Is that how they knew it was a male…because it was so damn tired?? “We will be there as soon as we can.” O.k., we’ll be the girls in the red bathing suits…

It was a good hour and a half and we were still waiting. We kept onlookers at bay, forbidding them to get too close. An elderly couple who had been watching the rescue us from their window came out to offer a hand. We decided to go change, and grab a piece of toast while they stood guard for awhile. We returned shortly to find the rescuers had arrived. They explained the pup was about 3 months old and aside from exhaustion, was perfectly healthy. Listen and learn. They are weaned at about 6 weeks old, mom just leaves them to fend on their own. Because they have not yet learned to hunt, they lose up to 1/2 their weight (Seriously? I don’t know how to hunt…what the hell?) and become weak. They beach themselves to rest and then return to the water. That is exactly what “Ace Ventura” was doing

The rescue lady (oh, and uh-hum, myself) made a circle out of about 6 signs explaining the situation, advising lookie loo’s to keep their distance and let the baby (male) sleep. It was fascinating to some, some could really careless and others were complete and utter idiots. One in particular. We will call him Slacker (…as his shirt read). Slacker decides to cross “the barrier” …because he could. As he approached Ace, the rescue lady asked him to “please stay away from the seal and let him sleep.” “I don’t have to.” he says. “No, you don’t…but I’m asking you to.” Know what he did? He kicked sand in her face. This is where I went from being a lifeguard, to wonder woman…or something. Yeah. Ever lose control, like in a bad way? Slacker crosses the circle, kicks sand on my new best friend and he is now heading towards the poor, defenseless, exhausted baby. Heidi, A.K.A. lifeguard, A.K.A. wonder woman, A.K.A…or something decides to stop him. Obviously reasoning wasn’t working out so well, time to pull the psycho card…because, clearly that would be the right thing to do.

Deanna captures this last shot of me before she runs…far and fast. Hell, I was afraid of me. Slacker and I, Heidi, A.K.A. lifeguard, A.K.A. wonder woman, A.K.A…or something went into a face to face screaming match, (the right thing to do, I remind you) as he continues to kick sand, I hold my ground standing between him and the seal…wondering if my obituary will read, ‘she died a hero, saving a poor, defenseless, exhausted, baby.’ I could hear the rescuer (the real one) and my friends telling me to back off, but it was too late. Not to toot my own horn, but after what seemed like forever, he eventually turned and walked away. toot-toot I look around to see a small crowd had gathered, someone informed me they had called 911 back and told them never mind, it was over. 911? I stood there a bit mortified at what had just taken place, apologizing for my behavior. Know what the rescue lady said to me? “Sometimes that’s what it takes, you fought for his safety.” My humiliation began to fade as I felt a sense of pride come over me.

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We She, (the rescuer) (my new best friend) decided it would be best to create a new barrier around the lil’ soul with CAUTION tape, and so we did.  I continued to check on him about every 30 minutes throughout the day. Without further interruption, Ace V. was able to rest for a good 8 hours, restoring his energy and strength. As the sun began to set, he opened his eyes and lifted his head. With Deanna and I cheering him on, we scream and yell, coaching him, as he finds his way back into water. We celebrate with a high five, a fist bump and a few tears. Our efforts had made a difference and despite Slacker and his feeble attempts, our rescue was a success.

We make our way home with a spring in our step and a smile on our face. We are hero’s amongst the locals, we are the seal whisperers, and little did we know…our journey has just begun….

Read more here
and here!