Irvington – Page 21

The Saddest Dog in the World

After an unusually heavy snowfall hit Portland one night, Ellie and I were working our way back home on our morning walk when I noticed a massive snowman in front of one of the houses, the kind you see in the movies but never here since we rarely get much snow, so I wanted a quick picture. Ellie was starting to tire after our long and joyful walk through the tall snow so I left her on what I presumed was the sidewalk and told her to stay and walked a few feet over and got my picture of the snowman.

I had to laugh when I turned around and saw the saddest dog in the world, all alone in this desolate landscape, looking for someone to love. Her droopy jowls when she sits still make her look so sad, but I knew the mental calculation she was making. She gets a treat if she sits still when we’re near a street and I give her the stay command, and she gets a treat if she sits still while I take a picture, so what she really wanted to know was, “Am I getting one treat or two?”

She got two.

You do make me laugh, pup, you do make me laugh.

Ellie & the Dragon After Sunset

When a moon hits your eye and Ellie’s by your side,
that’s amore.

Amen

Goodbye Sun, Goodbye Snow

Ellie watches the last rays of the setting sun from a snow-covered hill in Irving Park. I thought this Sunday afternoon walk was going to be our last walk together in the snow after a week of walking in the white as I was back at work on Monday, but I stayed home on Tuesday when temperatures didn’t warm as quickly as predicted and a possible ice storm was approaching. Thankfully the ice just missed us but Ellie and I had one more long walk in the snow that morning before the great thaw started in the evening.

I treasure every moment with this sweet pup.

Here Comes the Sun

While it may seem like Ellie is awaiting the rising of the sun, she’s really awaiting the giving of the treats, her reward for sitting still when I take pictures on our walks.

Fading Glory, Fading Use

Many of the garages in our old neighborhood are too small to hold modern cars. Even our little Crosstrek is a tight fit in our old one car garage. I’ve wanted to photograph these side-by-side garages for a while, as they have seen better days yet still hint at their former glory, and on this day fortune smiled as Ellie decided to walk down this street and I happened to have my camera with me.

Frozen Rain Garden

We got a little bit of snow on the weekend but it was the freezing rain that followed that made a mess of things. It did make for some lovely patterns in our rain garden though, the ice was starting to melt when I took this picture, I liked the way the ice had slightly pulled away from the rocks with a bright white line etched in its wake.

Within a couple of hours it had all melted and I was able to take Ellie on her first walk after missing the previous two.

Night Falls, And So Does the Snow

I took this picture from inside the house as an unusually heavy snowstorm blanketed Portland. The snow was still falling when I went to sleep, I measured 10 inches of snow outside the garage in the morning.

No Pikas

I was thinking of pikas when taking these pictures, relying on snow to insulate their talus field homes to survive the brutal winter, but I wasn’t expecting to see any. These rocks are part of the multi-tiered rock wall that we had installed this fall as part of a landscaping project. I’ll have more to say later but we absolutely love the work that Mandi and her team at Habitat Gardens did, the rain gardens have almost completely eliminated water from the basement and the new landscaping out front, replacing a wall of junipers on our front slope, makes me happy every time I walk past.

I must admit I’m tempted to try to find a little stone pika that I can hide in one of the crevices.

Tag: Irvington