Spread a little hope...and bark chips!

Today marks the birthday of Martin Luther King. For the first time in the 19 years I've worked for SAIF, we were given the day off...and a challenge: spend your holiday giving back. I probably would have ignored this if not for the prodding and example set by some of my coworkers who devote themselves to serving others. In an ad hoc committee meeting, my name was raised, I was approached, and, since the "giving back" involved one of my favorite places - the Minto Brown Dog Park - I agreed.

We had a glorious day for spreading bark chips along the muddy trails. As you'll recall, just a few weeks ago, the park was mostly under water. But today was one of those confusing Oregon winter days - brisk chill in the early morning hours giving way to a pleasant high 40s, sunshine and blue sky. (We all know the rain will return, but in the meantime, we lie to ourselves saying this is how the weather always is in January!)

I happily greeted six co-workers along with three additional family members and four dogs at 9 a.m. at the still frosty dog park. As an added bonus, two other ladies who had heard about our endeavors asked to join us. We divied up chores and set about to move a mound of bark chips to the muddy trails. The Minto Brown Dog Park does not allow motorized vehicles, so moving all the wood chips was down by wheelbarrow, pitchfork and rake (all graciously provided by the City of Salem).

The crew worked steadily and cheerfully for a good two-half hours. Clearly a lot of physical labor for us office workers! Our dogs enjoyed themselves spending their time playing with each other, greeting other dogs in the park and inspecting our bark spreading abilities.

It might be the timing of this MLK Day. We are on the cusp of a momentous inauguration. A glimmer of hope in these dim days is breaking through. The idealist in me seems to be gaining a foothold. We didn't cure cancer today. We didn't solve the world's hunger crisis. We didn't restore the stock market. But we made a few trails less muddy and were thanked by those walking by.

Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

--Martin Luther King, Jr.

And the rain came down...

Our more typical Oregon winter resumed on January 1, 2009 with a relentless rain storm. The rain came down all day long while Gracie and I curled up in the recliner and watched reruns of NYPD Blue. On Saturday, the clouds parted and the sun made a brief and lukewarm, appearance. We headed to the dog park.

I wasn't surprised to see that the pond at the entrance to the park had overflowed its banks and spread into the adjoining wheat field. But as I followed the road into the park, I was surprised to see the water lapping at the edge of the road. When I pulled into the dog park parking lot, I could see the extent of the flooding. Half of the dog park field was under 1 - 2 feet of water.

Gracie could not believe her good fortune! Water at the dog park - this is the BEST DAY EVER! She and several other dogs played for a good hour in the water, fetching tennis balls, playing chase and tormenting the field mice trying to get to higher ground. All we humans could do was stand at water's edge and hope that we remembered to bring towels. (Being an experienced lab owner, I usually have at least 2 towels in the car at all times.)

I was finally able to coax Gracie back to the car. When we got home, I tried to hose off some of the muck. For a dog who had just spent an hour splashing in the frigid flood water of the park, she acted like the hose water was killing her. Finally got her feet washed off and her whole body dried off. She slept really well that night!

Snow Angels

Saturday, December 13 we woke up to snow. A bit unusual for the central Willamette Valley. For the first 2 days, we were all excited. Gracie more than most. She loves the snow. She loves to run through it, scoop it up with her nose and roll around in it.

The snow and ice persisted through the week. Definitely unusual for Salem. This past Sunday, we had an ice storm, while our neighbor 45 miles north, Portland, had more snow than it had seen in many years.

Late Sunday evening the temperature finally pushed passed freezing and the ice began to melt. Large chunks of ice broke from the fir trees surrounding my house and landed on the roof or ground with loud WHOMPS! I was afraid to let Gracie out back for her nightly rituals for fear one my clunk on her head. She was a bit worried too, so decided to play it safe and peed on the deck instead. Smart girl. But I did tell her not to get use to that.

This morning, we awoke at our usual time for a work day. By 6 a.m. the snow was falling very heavy. Wait...didn't the weatherman say Salem was the cut off for the cold weather? We were suppose to be a balmy 40 degrees today. Nope. All snow...all day.

Gracie and I enjoyed a snow day from work. We took two walks around the neighborhood. The damage from the ice storm was great. Many down trees and large limbs. Gracie was more interested in making snow angels, though.

Just keep swimming

Today Gracie and I visited Corvallis. A bit dicey for us in our bright yellow Escape with Unversity of Oregon license plates. (I did check - there was no OSU home game, so I felt relatively safe in the Beaver Nation.)

The reason for our visit was the annual dog swim at the Corvallis Aquatic Center. This is the day the outdoor pools are open for dogs to swim. Gracie and I have been to the Western Oregon University dog swim each August, but this was our first venture to the Corvallis pool. And what a set up! There were two outdoor swim areas. For $5, Gracie swam for an hour. Her favorite activity was waiting for me to toss her bright orange float into the pool. Then she would leap from the side of the pool and swim at top speed to retrieve the float. Sometimes she would find the stairs, other times she would paddle to the side where I would help her out of the water.

Just like our visits to the dog park, I can tell this is something she really enjoys. And I enjoy watching her have so much fun.

There were probably 30 dogs or more in the pool area. The set up included a traditional lap pool as well as a pool you might see at water park. Most of the dogs were enjoying that pool because it was much more shallow and most dogs could easily touch bottom.

I watched one golden retriever attempt to retrieve his ball by standing tip-toe on the edge of the pool and then reaching one tentative paw into the water. He wanted that ball, but not bad enough to get all the way in.

What a great fund raiser for the pool and what a fun day for Gracie and for me.

O'Possum, Where art thou?

September typically brings a wonderful Indian Summer to Oregon and this year is no different. The mornings start off cool. Then the days warm up (sometimes too warm! we're back in the 90s again) and the evening breeze kicks in around 7 p.m. and makes for a pleasant night. Saturday was just like this. I had all the windows and screen doors open enjoying the cooling breeze through the house. It was a nice change from the AC. Gracie was up to something in one of the back bedrooms - it's hard to know sometimes. And then I heard a slight scratching noise by the front porch. It was a soft noise, but one that Gracie heard from the netherworld of the back of the house. She came charging down the hallyway to the front window and arrived in time to see two opossums crawl out from under the front porch. In a flash, she hit the window screen, which promptly popped out. It was only because I was close by that I got my arms around her waist as she was half way out the window. I'm surprised the opossums didn't keel over right then, but instead they scampered off toward the neighbor's house. Gracie gave them a few parting barks that would make a grown man go weak. I haven't seen the opposum twins lately, so I'm hoping the notion of a dog for an upstairs neighbor was not appealing to them.

I'm reminded of a story from my friend, Steve. He has a golden retriever named Jiggs who has about a million stuffed dog toys. One such toy is a opossum. During Steve's evening ritual of collecting the stuffed toys from the yard, he picked up the stuffed opossum, but if felt a bit different. It wasn't a toy. It was, in fact, a young neighborhood opossum that Jiggs had startled into paralysis. Ugh...

Brother, can you spare a sock?

Just last Tuesday, I was coming out of the bathroom after performing my nightly "get ready for bed" rituals only to find Gracie sitting by the open closet door smacking her lips.

"What have you done?" I inquired. She declined to answer.

I glanced quickly around the closet. My gaze landed on the laundry hamper. The two blue dress socks I had placed in there earlier in the evening were gone. In addition, a lone black sock peeked out from under a white t-shirt.

I spun around and grabbed Gracie on either side of her face. I pressed my nose to hers. "Why?! Why would you eat those socks?" I asked her. Again, she declined to answer.

I've been on sock watch for a week. There's been much pooping and no vomiting (thank goodness!) To be honest, I'm not sure if the socks have completed the process yet. I try not to look too closely.

Sunday at the Parks

It was a lazy Sunday morning. Finally about 9 a.m., Gracie and I made our way to the dog park. There was a crisp hint of fall in the air. Not too surprisingly, the dog park parking lot was almost full. We got one of the last spots. The dogs at the park will feeling the friskiness that comes with the cooler temperatures and the treat of being off leash.

Gracie trotted around the park with her prized tennis ball. I got to throw it once - when we first arrived. I managed to "trade for it" with a favorite treat. But after that, she packed it around. It's almost like a security blanket for her.

Later Sunday, we both were feeling a bit restless and headed down to Bush Park. Leashes are required here, but that's OK. Birthday parties were in full swing at the various picnic tables. There was a great game of Frisbee football underway. Gracie tried to rifle through the players discarded sweatshirts in search of missing morsel of food. She found none.

Rain clouds on the horizon were threaten, but the breeze seem to be pushing the rain anywhere but where we were walking. I know the rain falls on the just and unjust alike, but on Sunday, the showers moved on without dampening our spirits.

The two long strolls at the parks on Sunday gave way to a very restful sleep last night (that, and also not having to go to work today!). Say what you will about Salem, but for parks and spending time with your best pal, it can't be beat.