Arlo's Dad
01-29-2006, 09:26 PM
Arlo has had a long stretch where he had to give up adventures to practice his true calling as a nurse. First came my weekend on call and then my week on my back. Arlo makes a fine nurse, he takes my temperature. He lays next to me a sucks up all the extra temp I had to offer. He also encourages me to rest in much the same way, holding me down with a paw or his head. Even as a lab technician he performs tests in a fraction of the time it takes human operated laboratories. He sniffed my breath after coughing and determined that I had a mild upper respiratory infection and administered his prescription, a vigorous bath in dog saliva. I think it helped.
Enough of that, Arlo gets embarrased hearing about his medical skills, he thinks anyone can do it.
On to the adventures. Even though I thought Arlo deserved a major excursion I was just not up to it. I opened up Google Earth and zoomed in on Lien Park, the under developed dog park used by the unrefined masses. An attractive location nestled between the diversion ditch, the abandoned poop lakes and Barney's Auto Salvage. The satalite photos looked promising showing a nice wooded area below the once beloved Chevys and Fords so I thought it was worth a try.
I parked in the one spot where I wouldn't sink up to my knees when I stepped out. Aren't things supposed to be frozen this time of year? I can see that this lot is limited to three cars unless you're wearing hip waders. We slosh across the actual official dog park, an area never used by the dogs but as a pathway, and head for the river and down stream to the woods. Much to my relief Arlo showed little interest in the Poop Lakes on the way.
When we get to the woods themselves the first thing I notice is the spill over and escapees from Barney's. A hood here, a fender there, an engine of unknown vintage and pedigree and a heard of tires. Despite my bleeding heart liberal tendencies I don't find it repulsive. It seems fitting for the surroundings with the reshaped river, pools of human waste and abandoned status symbols of years past. It really is a wild area in the heart of the big city with evidence of deer, turkey, possums, coons, coyote and beaver, lots of busy beaver and the impressive amount of logging with which they occupy themselves.
Arlo makes friends where ever he goes and today was no exception. He met a friendly, overweight chocolate lab (dark chocolate, not milk chocolate) who's name I never did get. His owner soon became my guide and led the way through the unfamiliar territory. We were soon joined by a three legged canine distantly followed by his owner even further disabled having only two legs. She immediately guessed the origin of Arlo's name and proudly announced that Pete, her tripod dog, was named after Pete Seeger. Arlo has a better singing voice. We all had a nice hike through the trees, bushes and Buicks.
All good things must come to an end. Arlo reluctantly said his goodbyes in the parking lot before heading home for a long winter's nap, no doubt dreaming of adventures past and future.
Enough of that, Arlo gets embarrased hearing about his medical skills, he thinks anyone can do it.
On to the adventures. Even though I thought Arlo deserved a major excursion I was just not up to it. I opened up Google Earth and zoomed in on Lien Park, the under developed dog park used by the unrefined masses. An attractive location nestled between the diversion ditch, the abandoned poop lakes and Barney's Auto Salvage. The satalite photos looked promising showing a nice wooded area below the once beloved Chevys and Fords so I thought it was worth a try.
I parked in the one spot where I wouldn't sink up to my knees when I stepped out. Aren't things supposed to be frozen this time of year? I can see that this lot is limited to three cars unless you're wearing hip waders. We slosh across the actual official dog park, an area never used by the dogs but as a pathway, and head for the river and down stream to the woods. Much to my relief Arlo showed little interest in the Poop Lakes on the way.
When we get to the woods themselves the first thing I notice is the spill over and escapees from Barney's. A hood here, a fender there, an engine of unknown vintage and pedigree and a heard of tires. Despite my bleeding heart liberal tendencies I don't find it repulsive. It seems fitting for the surroundings with the reshaped river, pools of human waste and abandoned status symbols of years past. It really is a wild area in the heart of the big city with evidence of deer, turkey, possums, coons, coyote and beaver, lots of busy beaver and the impressive amount of logging with which they occupy themselves.
Arlo makes friends where ever he goes and today was no exception. He met a friendly, overweight chocolate lab (dark chocolate, not milk chocolate) who's name I never did get. His owner soon became my guide and led the way through the unfamiliar territory. We were soon joined by a three legged canine distantly followed by his owner even further disabled having only two legs. She immediately guessed the origin of Arlo's name and proudly announced that Pete, her tripod dog, was named after Pete Seeger. Arlo has a better singing voice. We all had a nice hike through the trees, bushes and Buicks.
All good things must come to an end. Arlo reluctantly said his goodbyes in the parking lot before heading home for a long winter's nap, no doubt dreaming of adventures past and future.