I felt honored to participate in a plot instigated by my neighbor to create a surprise gift for her husband. Dina and Dom are sadly moving away from our marina, and they will be missed by everyone on B dock. As an appreciation to her husband who lovingly supports their move for her exciting new job, Dina gave me a photo of Dom sailing his boat with their beloved floating home in the background (the upper left corner shows the silos, used during WWII to store cement for ship-building, in our parking lot). It was a wonderful, big juicy secret and I was a happy part of the conspiracy. Their love for each other touched me and it was great fun.

Another thing about Dina — some months ago she posted on the marina FaceBook page a photo of an otter she spotted early one morning, hanging out on the docks not far from my boat. It was terribly exciting! Recently I had my front door cracked open on a warm day, and heard a funny, watery, plopping noise so I went out to investigate. A river otter (ID confirmed by helpful folks at the Marine Mammal Ctr)! On the houseboat deck next door. It nosed around and then defecated on a coiled hose, officially making this my neighbor Nancy’s poopdeck. I scrambled to take a few pics and then Steve (named by another neighbor who has seen him before) slipped back into the water and away he went. Little Stevie River Otter. I was thrilled and completely smitten. Hope he stops by again.

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21″ x 20″ watercolor, pencil, pastel on paper