Another chapter in the book I’ll never write: A Slice of Life Story

We have a menace on our street. Someone is not picking up after their dog…a lot. Pretty much every bit of grassy parking strip is tainted.

We have a regular route we walk. Out the back door to the sidewalk, across the street, then a quick jaunt to the corner and around the block. If Fiona is feeling really energetic we do two blocks. Go team basset!

I always look down and around to be sure there isn’t anything for the girls to get into. But now, as I turn back onto our street, it is awful. And I am not the only one who has noticed. The neighbor across the way thinks she knows who it is. But no one has actually seen the person.

The best reaction is this:

This neighbor is fed up with this mystery person leaving a mess on her parking strip. I love her positive message, though you can tell she is really angry. I hope her strategy s successful.

It is a little hard to read, but here is what it says:

Dear person leaving dog poop,

Instead of putting your dog’s poop in the street, could you please pick it up with these baggies? Let’s all work together to have a clean and pleasant  neighborhood.

Yup, another chapter for My Life in Dog Poop, that book I’ll never write.

2015 Oregon Basset Hound Games

July brings the dog days of summer. Literally. The Oregon Basset Hound Games is always held on the third Sunday in July.

The planning team was a little short-handed this year and the weather was hot, which Oregonians fear and loathe, but the show must go on, and it did with gusto.

As always, the Games opened with the limbo. Although bassets are low riders, their tails prove to be their downfall in this event.

There are several highlights. Everyone  loves the costume contest. Everyone of the two-leggers that is; the results are inconclusive for the four-leggers.

The poor lithe dalmatian in the middle kept trying to remove her hat. Others were more cooperative.

Aside from their sad faces and stubbornness, basset hounds are infamous for two things: laziness and howling. Naturally, there is a Marathon Napping contest.

Some years, there seem to be more barkers than howlers. This was not one of them.

My favorite event is the last event: Synchronized Swimming. The concept is simple. Lead your basset to the kiddie pool. Convince him/her to get all four paws in the pool. Get out on the other side and cross the finish line. Unfortunately, base hounds hate water and most refuse to get into the pool. Watching the owners try to convince their dog to get on the pool is hilarious.

 

 

 

 

The Dog Days of Summer

According to Wikipedia “The phrase dog days refers to the sultry days of summer.  In the Northern Hemisphere, the dog days of summer are most commonly experienced in the months of July and August, which typically observe the hottest summer temperatures.”

And here we are. It is mid-August and we are experiencing a heat wave in Portland. Today will probably be the hottest day of the year, at 99°F.

I’m starting to think about returning to work. This is my last full week of vacation. Next week I have a two-day training on Wednesday & Thursday. I get my hair cut Friday, then inservice week begins two weeks from today. Sigh.

Although I long for summer to continue forever, I do enjoy the return to a more structured daily schedule.

In The Dog Days of School by Kelly DiPucchio, Charlie is in the situation I will be in once we’ve been back to school for a few weeks.

Charlie thinks his dog, Norman has a great life, with no homework and very little responsibility. One night, Charlie wishes on a star, hoping to have a life as easy as Norman. When Charlie wakes up the next morning, Norman is in his bed and their roles are reversed. Brian Biggs’ illustrations add some details that DiPucchio doesn’t include in the text, to make this a wonderful book about role reversal and the fact that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

 

A great book for k-2 at the beginning of the year, or a few weeks in when the routine has set in and things feel more like a slog.