Returning from a day's sailing

I was exhausted when I got home after spending the day sailing. Sculling the heavy boat up the river for a mile and a half against wind and tide took all my energy. We barely moved despite working hard, me with the big Chinese-style sculling oar (yuloh) and Sanny with a paddle or a long pole. For a while at the river mouth I thought we weren't going to manage to get home until the tide turned - some hours yet. Claude and Sanny's boy took turns steering. It was an hour and a half of strenuous work.
But the welcome from my dogs and my wife made me very happy. Even if I have only been out ten hours, the dogs welcome me as though I had been away a month, jumping, barking, trembling, trying their best to talk but unable as they don't have the right physiology. They seem to understand that going sailing for a day isn't just like going into the town shopping, but there's a slight risk that I might not return. Then Rose came out and hugged me so lovingly, listened to my account of the day, laughing at my dry humour and descriptions of minor disasters and difficulties, though she herself had had a bad day with a menstrual headache.

Later when we went to bed I laid my hand on her head gently, and after a moment she put her hand on top of mine and smiled.

Malcolm