Month: September 2014

Charlie and the Pod Tree

Actually, there is no connection.  To speak of.  The pod tree has been growing and leaning  in some kind of a fit of arboreal koyaanisqatsi to the extent that some large upper limbs have broken and were hanging tenuously.  So I come home last night to find that the arborist had pruned back the damage, declaring it to otherwise be a healthy tree.  And Charlie looks on, seemingly oblivious to the danger the limbs had posed to his running sprees before they were removed.  All Charlie seems interested in is to nibble his quince.

 

Home Again With Charlie Dog

A little something to keep Ivi in touch …

At the gate, Charlie awaits my return from work whereupon he insists on six or seven high-speed encirclements of the yard and chases after his red floppy thing.  Then he rests for a couple of seconds, perhaps having a drink of water, then takes off again.  I am exhausted by the time I finally get through the door. 

Portland Trip Postscript

In the previous post, we didn’t mention that our return trip was stalled by about an hour, when I-84 traffic came to a halt about around 110th Street, headed out of Portland.  The time was about 10 or 10:30am.  We were positioned at the dividing strip between the freeway and an off-ramp when a police car came alongside after 15 or 20 minutes.  We overheard the policewoman tell the occupants of the car just ahead of us that the freeway would likely be closed for hours, and that anyone who could should get off.  So we crossed the triangle and were just able to get to the off-ramp.   We searched for an appropriate through street somewhat parallel to the freeway, rejoining I-84 in about three or four miles.  We found virtually no eastbound traffic, but the westbound lane was stacked up at a standstill for several more miles.  It was not until today that Kim’s research disclosed the reason for the delay:

http://www.katu.com/news/local/I-84-shut-down-in-both-directions-after-shots-fired-in-NE-Portland-273468661.html

A Lewis & Clark Labor Day Weekend

ivi_2014-08-31_566x891_defaultThis weekend we set off to return Ivi to her senior year at L&C.  Ivi, now our driver of choice for Portland wanderings, checks into her 5th floor room.  (She’s lived here before when the building was brand new, but now has a preferred top-floor private room in the LEED-certified forest-surrounded — as is the whole L&C campus — structure.)  Then it is on to our hotel, where Dad naps while Kim and Ivi find provisions at a nearby Trader Joe’s.  The next morning we help Ivi unpack, then head east to see how Charlie and Nik made out in our absence.