Antar

Spring is finally starting to show her colors with a beautiful and warm day.  I had a few minutes to spare and wandered down to the small beach on the north side of the Riverwalk early this evening.  I was searching for a shot of a peaceful scene for my FaceBook post.  This spot can be a very relaxing spot, with few people around.  Today wasn't too different, but there were a few visitors including Antar.



 While walking toward the beach I noticed a guy walking his unleashed dog.  I could only tell the he was a fairly large breed with a dark colored coat.  I didn't pay much attention to them since they had walked a few hundred yards away.  I knelt down as took a few photos of the beach and river, and panned to the north and notice the dog was heading back toward me.  At trot, he was covering the distance fairly quickly and I took a few photos.  He was maybe 20 yards away and made a sudden left turn to walk up toward a young lady sitting in the sand reading a book.  I panned back around to the river and took a shot and all of a sudden I had a dog in my face, giving me 'kisses.'  I think Antar may be a Belgian Shepherd?

The owner slowly wandered over to say hello.  I asked the name of the dog and he told me, "Antar, after the slave, poet-warrior."  He continued on in a long description of the story of Antar, an Arab slave that fell in love with his cousin.  Antar was a great warrior and hero and an accomplished poet.  The owner went on to describe the story as one with parallels to Romeo & Juliet in its tragic love story.  Our conversation continued.  Well for the most part I just listened really, and I heard of the influence of the Arab world on the European sailing expeditions of Magellan and Columbus and how many of the sailor were Arab, since most of the Europeans were afraid of the sea - and falling off the earth.  I also heard of how the "last names" of people were often based on the city in which they lived. It was a really pleasant talk.  We separated as Antar (the pup of 2 1/2 years) chased after another dog, this time in a full run.  It all ended well as the owner of the other canine was familiar with his rapidly approaching friend calling out "Antar."  Wiki has more on this story.

A few other parting shots.

I took photo of the water in the causeway.  The beams separating the two sides framed a section of sun-lit water and the result was really interesting.




I also noticed something that looked like a shell, but I'm really not sure what it is.  If you can identify it, please let me know. There's the original and a closeup of the 'thing' that looks like a shell.

Just another great time at Solomons.

Blessings,
Brian