“Peluche” The Guardian of the Emerald Coast

When I first arrived in the Emerald Coast, I was stunned by the beautiful sea that was welcoming me. I will never forget that moment of peace, immense beauty and the relaxing sound of the soft waves moving smoothly with great harmony. I am a person that likes to exercise but with all the stress from work and the agitated life of the city I was not making enough time for fitness. I was gaining weight and to make the story short I was very out of shape. Therefore, I decided to start running again, what better place to start than at the Emerald Coast right in front of that marvelous sea.

The first day that I started running I hardly ran 1.5 km, I forgot that it is harder to run in the beach, plus I didn’t wake up that early so the sun was killing me. The next day I tried again but I was cheating, I was walking most of the time, I hardly made it further than 1.5 km again. The third day, I went for another run, but this time there was someone waiting for me, someone that had been watching me at the distance the first 2 days. Maybe I didn´t give him the right vibe at first or maybe he realized that I was going to continue cheating myself because the moment I stopped the fast pace, he came running towards me like a friend that you haven’t seen in a long time. He started jumping around me motivating me to keep running and that’s exactly what I did. In fact, we ran together for another 1.5 km non stop until I dropped in the sand breathless. I felt so good after that exercise. When I came back home, I realized that I had forgotten the feeling of that great rush one experiments when you push yourself to the limit. That was the first time I met Peluche.

The next day, I went back to the beach for my early run. After the first kilometer, Peluche was there, at the same spot, waiting for me. However, this time he wasn’t alone, he was with his whole pack composed of 5 dogs, Peluche is the leader and every time I go for a run, they all join me in my new challenge.

Peluche is such a special living thing to me because he doesn’t just run with me, he is always there every time I need him. When I go for a walk at the beach to think about stuff or to meditate, he is always there and sits next to me. We have contemplated so many sunsets together. Peluche is everyone´s dog and no one´s pet at the same time. I feed him and his pack everytime I can, most of the time they figure it out. They belong to the beach, they have learned to survive. It is impressive how nature is so resilient; he has thaught me a couple of lessons.

I wanted to write about Peluche because he is my true friend and he has inspired me in some many ways. I will never forget that day sitting beside him and his pack staring at the sunset. That day at that very moment, I felt the courage to start my own Real Estate company. It has been a great experience and Peluche is always right. We still going that extra kilometer.