Tag: winter

Exit Strategy

A home in the Irvington neighborhood is covered in Christmas lights and snow in Portland, Oregon

After we leave the dog park at Irving Park, I let Ellie choose which of the four exits we take to launch back into the neighborhood and the main part of our walk. This house abuts the park at the east side of the tennis courts, and although she usually prefers to walk down the eastern side of the street, lately she’s been choosing the western side where this house sits. She wasn’t with me on this walk, she didn’t want to go out last night or this morning. I wouldn’t have let her go this morning even had she wanted to, a thin layer of ice built up overnight atop the snow and the roads and sidewalks were mostly ice altogether, too treacherous for an elderly pup who isn’t that confident in her footing.

This is from the evening before, Christmas Eve, as the snow still fell and the light rapidly faded. I love how varied the sizes and shapes and colors of the houses are in this old neighborhood and took advantage of the Christmas lights to photograph some of them. There are benefits to a modern house if we have to move, and maybe we’ll end up somewhere with a more photogenic place to photograph backyard wildlife, but I love our house and I love our neighborhood. It’s going to be hard to leave.

A White Christmas (Eve)

A light snow covers my car and house on Christmas Eve in Portland, Oregon

It’s rare that I’ve experienced a white Christmas but, if this is to be our last Christmas here, at least we’re going out in style. I don’t know if the snow will last until morning but if not it’s OK, I appreciated getting to walk around in it. I couldn’t get Ellie to join me, she may have been worried about her footing at her age, but she did roll around in the snow in the backyard.

The Pup Pythagoras

Our dog Ellie stands in a snow-covered Irving Park in Portland, Oregon

The past couple of days Ellie has only wanted to go on 45 minute walks, still amazing for her age, but not quite the adventurous 60 to 90 minute walks of previous days. One thing I’ve noticed as she’s aged, in addition to the stiff legs and shortness of breath, is that at an intersection she tries to take the diagonal across instead of crossing each street in turn. She I suppose intrinsically understands the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, and at her age wants and needs to minimize effort, but it always makes me think of the famous theorem that bears Pythagoras’ name. It made a big impression on my young self when I first learned of it and I realized the world of mathematics, and our world it describes, is both profound and beautiful.

Despite this I make Ellie take the long way round, crossing each street one at a time instead of taking the diagonal, as we live in the world of the automobile and it is their rules that govern our walks. She doesn’t understand, but then neither do I.

One Year Ago Today

Our dog Ellie stands in our backyard as snow falls around her

Exactly one year ago we were supposed to get a little bit of snow, a rarity for us, so I stayed home from work so I could take the pup out in whatever we got. We’d get quite a bit of snow a month later, not like the dusting here, but of course I had no way of knowing that. A biting wind made our outing less enjoyable than it might have been but I was still thankful for the chance to take Ellie out in the snow. Today was also a bit of a rarity weather-wise, cold but sunny, as it has been all week. No pictures from today, I had a meet-and-greet with a potential employer and was tied up all morning so we had to forego the long walks that have been a staple of our mornings since I got laid off a month ago.

January to December

Our dog Ellie sits beside the dragon statue at Irvington School after a heavy snowfall

I took the top picture of Ellie by the dragon statue at Irvington School this January after an unusually heavy snow, the bottom picture this morning in a more typical gentle rain shower. I’m deeply thankful for the year we’ve spent together and that she has been in good health (for her age). Longer walks have returned with cooler weather and new medicines, even if not quite as long as before. She walks more slowly and stiffly, gets out-of-breath much faster too, but still charms everyone she meets. You are my heart and my joy, pup, my heart and my joy.

Our dog Ellie sits beside the dragon statue at Irvington School during a gentle rain shower

An Act of Worship

A neighbor laughs while feeding our dog Ellie treats from the steps of his house on a snowy day in the Irvington neighborhood of Portland, Oregon in January 2017

Ellie and I meander on our walks around our neighborhood, within limits I let her choose which streets we walk down. There’s only one place she always wants to visit on her long walks, without fail, and that is the house of Steve (I think his name is Steve, I asked once but I forget names as soon as I hear them). He lives on 8th Avenue at the southern end of Irvington, almost as far south as we go, and is frequently sitting on his stoop. He’s an animal lover at heart, feeding not just his cat but the neighborhood crows and squirrels. And he always has dog treats in his pockets and eagerly hands them out to pups who wander up to say hello.

Our pup always wanders up to say hello. His house is her pilgrimage.

She starts looking for him the moment his steps come into view and starts pulling on the leash as soon as she sees him. On days he’s not there she just stares at the steps, trying to work out how to summon the giver of treats. On this winter day with the neighborhood still buried in snow and ice, Ellie took an unusual path south and I thought she was having so much fun in the snow that she was going to forget about Steve. But as we walked further south she suddenly veered back to the west and I knew where we were headed. I warned her that he wouldn’t be out on such a cold day but doubts do not pass the ears of the faithful. Her faith was rewarded for there he was and they spent a moment in mutual worship.

I don’t know if they’ll cross paths again, Ellie has rarely been up for walks long enough to visit Steve the past few months, but it’s hard to say how much of that is from advancing age and how much from hot weather. Should they never meet again I’m thankful for all the times they did, a neighbor’s love and a dog’s devotion.

A neighbor feeds our dog Ellie treats from the steps of his house on a snowy day in the Irvington neighborhood of Portland, Oregon in January 2017