Schipperkes Midnight and Darkness circa 1897; Source: Wikipedia
The search continues for a 48-yr-old Oregon man presumed to have drowned while trying to save the life of a beloved Schipperke dog that had been swept into the ocean near Gold Beach.
So what kind of man risks his life to save a little black dog? Well this one seems to have been thoughtful and spiritually inclined. Indeed, he was a culturally prominent individual. See this article:
”THE FORCE IS GREAT”
ENCHANTMENT AND MAGIC IN SILICON VALLEY
by STEF AUPERS
He also seemed, like many close to death, to have exhibited the gift of prescience. This was the only photo in the only newsleter on his blog. This was one of his last Facebook posts:
“Winds are picking up on the morning beach walk. Still >50 miles/hr so the waves are still cleansing. Those watching think it is more insane than purifying. Isn’t that the way for [independent] business and spiritual people. Folks want to see and share what we do, until they gotta get in the waters of life. Life, like aging, is not for [wimps] or faint of heart.”
Duchess the Schipperke from The Pie and the Patty-Pan by Beatrix Potter 1905; Source Project Gutenberg ebook
When I read those words, I wanted to be angry because of what happened to the little dog and his owner. “He should not have taken that beach walk,” I fumed. But then I thought about how the nature of the ocean is rapidly changing, and that what was recently a joyous thrill, is now a risk darker than we can face at this point in time.
Subconsciously he knew this, yet on a conscious level he could not know his death was imminent or change his fate. He could only leave a legacy of wisdom behind, without knowing why. There is a message in those last words about living a life of courage, but there is a message in his last actions in this life that is even more important. His last actions were all about love in action.
There is another message in this tragic loss. This man was a lover not only of his dog, but of the sea itself. He seemed to me to have been an experienced coastal visitor, so how was he caught unaware of the sea’s dangers at least on a conscious level? I think it is because the behavior of the sea is changing more rapidly than we comprehend.
You can research this yourself, and also contemplate what the meaning of real “freedom” is. I know that it is nothing that war can “give” to you.
This is one of those few articles that leaves me sitting silent watching the tides of my own emotions. Beautiful.
Thank you very much for your comment, JMishra!
I think you are reading too much into what happened. Was he an experienced coastal dweller? He lived inland, in the valley. He was visiting the coast– that does’t make him an “experienced coast dweller. I am from Oregon, born and raised, and know that many (maybe most) inlanders have a very poor sense of the dynamics of the coast. People die every year just wanting to get a sense of the power, not intending to risk their lives. An experienced coast dweller stays off the beach at those times- has nothing to do with alientation from nature, but is an awareness of our relationship and connection to it.
It is human nature when someone or something we love (and a beloved pet comes into this category) is threatened. People do on a regular basis. Sometimes they succeed, often they don’t. It’s far more likely that this man simply responded to his pet’s need, and wasn’t thinking of the danger, than that he was involved in some spiritual event. The fact that he didn’t even remove his boots and coat is indicative of that. The kind of thing he wrote in his journal is the kind of thing many of us write confronted with the beauty and power of natural events. Pick up any nature book and you will read something similar.
This is not to diminish the heroic motivation of what he did: the love of his companion canine led him into acting without thinking, a normal response. I think I would be tempted to do the same should my small dog be in danger. But I can assure you, that I would not put my dog in that danger. I love the Oregon coast, though I no longer live in the west, and part of that love is respecting it’s power and recognizing my limitations in its face.
Thank you very much for taking the time to think about this story and share your thoughts, especially since you are from Oregon. (I’m going to change that description of Mr. A. as a coastal dweller.) You are right that his current home was more inland. I am still inclined to assume that since he is a long time coastal state dweller and loved the ocean, that he had some experience on the beach. I think he might have been caught by a ‘sneaker wave.’
A friend of mine who camped on the WA beach regularly during the winter for decades was caught by a sneaker wave a few years ago. I think he had a good sense of ocean conditions, and was not a risk taker, and in fact was battling cancer at the time this happened so was looking for simple peaceful contemplation on the beach with his wife at the time. They were lucky to survive.
So I hope the word gets out that it might be best to be extra cautious at the beach. (Your sharing that coastal dwellers choose to just stay off the beach entirely during rough weather is valuable information.)
I found this article that indicates that waves are getting more ferocious in recent years:
Maximum height of extreme waves up dramatically in Pacific Northwest
This one has some additional information about dangers:
Teens killed by sneaker waves along Oregon coast as Pacific takes more lives
Wonderful post! I agree that real freedom is found within and it sounds like Mr. A. had achieved that, though I hope the warnings about an increasingly unpredictable ocean save other human and animal lives. Those videos are shocking!
Thanks, SarahK!