This week in pet news

So we've sort of adopted a new dog. Giving it a trial run at least. Meet Lance:



He's a Yorkshire Terrier. One year-old. Our neighbor's friend got in trouble with their landlord for having a pet and can't keep him anymore. So our neighbor brought him home to help find a "forever home" for him. He's a very nice dog. Great with the kids. And even though he's small he's not "yappy" or hyper. He's not really shy either and enjoys our companionship. We just took him in today to see how things go. We want to make sure he'll fit in well with us, that we can take care of him properly, and that there are no issues with allergies.

My concern is that this is yet another pet that I initially didn't really want but got talked into. It began with a cat, who now pretty much gets ignored accept when she wants to eat and come in or out. She sheds a lot and with my allergies she just can't be in the house. So she lives in the garage, plays outside, and keeps our property rodent-free. Then came the tropical fish that just swim and die. Pricey little buggers that don't live very long. Next, the birds. 2 cockatiels that, so far, have had 3 babies. 2 last year that we gave away, and another this month that we'll be giving away when it's old enough. They get a lot of attention because they demand it. They love to hang out with us. And if they don't get enough attention they make a lot of noise about it. But they poop everywhere!

We had rats for a little while. They made good pets, but Tammie had a very bad allergy to them. Once their novelty wore off they pretty much got ignored too. We also had hermit crabs, which just hide during the day and eat at night. They aren't a whole lot of fun so the kids quickly got bored of them. Sold them on Craigslist.

Will this dog work out? I guess we'll see. I suspect that unless I show a severe allergic reaction he's going to be here for a long time.

Labor Day 2008

For Labor Day we took a picnic and a short 2 mile hike in Hoyt Arboretum. It was a beautiful day. No rain and it started out cool.

Here we are in the Giant Sequoia grove. These are very young Sequoias, so they are not quite as big as the ones you can see in much older groves.



This tree was growing on the side of a steep hill. The exposed root structure is quite striking.



Hey Summer. This small group of trees is called the House of Summer.



Hoyt Arboretum is a beautiful place to visit on a nice day. Right next door to the Portland Zoo. It's a place every Portland visitor and resident must see. The park is huge. There's a 4 mile hike that will take you through just about everything there is to see. Or you can take a smaller 3 or even 2 mile hike and see most of it. My favorite part is of course the Sequoias, even if they're "small."