We even got to see a couple of Dolphins from the shore!
Every year, on Columbus day weekend, in Dewey Beach, Delaware, there is a gathering. A gathering of hounds and people. The hounds are mostly retired, racing greyhounds and the people are the ones who love them. Are obsessed with them. They gather for a few days to learn more about the hounds they love like children. They gather to make new acquaintances and to reunite with old friends. But mostly, they gather to SHOP!
There are so many hounds there at this time that they spill over into Rehobeth Beach and Bethany Beach. Since Nadya is now living in a house full of retired racing Greyhounds, she had the opportunity to attend this gathering.
There were, as every year, many Whippets and Italian Greyhounds, and a few other breeds of dog. I even saw two Scottish Deerhounds and an Irish Wolfhound or two, but I do believe that Nadya was the only Borzoi there in 2000. Since I started writing the "Chronicles of Nadya" she was also famous! She has quite a few fans it seems and I think most of them were in Dewey Beach in October, 2000.
She traveled well in the back of our infamous "houndwagon" with her greyhound sister, Leonor. The girls rode in the back and my daughter Sara and I sat up front. (With the chips and soda!)
When we arrived we drove straight to the beach house that we were renting along with three friends and their families. Shortly after we got there and settled in, Leslie and Judy arrived and we helped them get their stuff into the house.
Later that night Jody and Mark and their son, Nathan pulled in and our weekend got started.
Nadya on the beach for the first time.
The first thing on the list of things to do, of course,was to walk the dogs on the beach. Nadya was a little frightened at first, but quickly got into the groove of things. Leonor had never seen the beach, (at least not with me) and seemed to enjoy herself. I think she helped Nadya adjust quickly to her environment.
As we walked along the beach, we approached a couple coming the other way. They were watching Nadya as they approached and finally when we got close enough, the man asked, "Russian boy?"
I answered, "Russian girl." he bent down and put a hand on her neck and started talking quietly to her. I thought she might duck away from him because she's still very shy, but he had a calm about him and she responded well to it.
I looked over at his wife and smiled. She pointed to them and said in a thick accent, "He knows his own kind!" It turned out that this man and his wife were both from Russia and the sight of Nadya made him homesick. I gave them a brief history on Nadya and he turned to her and I heard him whisper in her ear, "Dospedonia Nadehzda."
I think he told her a few other things too, but it was all in Russian and I didn't understand. They were very kind and gentle people.
Walking along a bit farther we came upon the main "walk". Every morning, almost 300 Greyhounds gather on the beach for a walk together. As we stopped to answer questions like, "Is that a long haired Greyhound?" and "Is this THE Nadya?" we met up with some friends from the internet and whom we love like family.
