Portland - To Aire is Divine

Portland

April15th

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Tip Toe Through the Tulips…

Posted in: Airedale Fun, Portland

With MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…

Tulips are EVERYWHERE here in Portland, out for all to see…

Every color (except black ones – mama was really looking for some of those really dark-almost black ones and couldn’t find any – yes she’s kind of odd)…

Big patches of them…

Or just a few swaying in the breeze.

Colors intermingling…

And in various states of petal-disrepair.

And like our friends the tulips can show us – never be afraid to be yourself (even if you’re a squat red flower in an exotic purple-and-white bunch).

Oh lets face it, I’m just glad it’s not pouring rain outside today. Even though that pouring rain is what makes these lovely flowers.

Love,

Bogart

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April14th

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Red-dy for Anything

Posted in: Airedale Fun, Portland

Well ok, probably not anything – probably not even most things – but at least to unveil mama’s new hair color:

And who better to present her than MEEEEEE?

She’s FUN. Even when she drives me crazy, she’s still kind of FUN.

And she accepts my kisses all day long.

She knows when to share the spotlight…

When to be a background player…

And when to step back into my reflected glory.

We are quite a pair – not always sure of a pair of what – but we are always “in tune”.

Yep, that’s my mama…

Mama and I want to thank EVERYONE who reads our blog, checks in on us, leaves comments, sends us email… you make our days a little bit brighter (I’d make a joke about how bright mama’s hair is right now, but well, that’s just too easy…).

Love,

Bogart & Lulu

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April12th

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Go East, Young Dale

Posted in: Airedale Fun, Portland

Mama just LOVES taking pictures of my shadow. Especially while I’m walking across the Broadway Bridge. I had to convince her to do a long walkie today – she took the day off of work, and what other reason could there be for not going to that work place? LONG WALKIE PLEASE

So even though we just did a big eastside tour yesterday, WE’RE BACK FOR MORE.

We do change things up a little bit each time – never walking down the exact same streets. You never know what you will find when you do this, and I can personally highly recommend it.

I focus on pine cones – you may focus on something else. Mama enjoys the vibrant flowers, for example.

All of this walking is making me super duper hungry. And we weren’t planning such a long walk, so mama wasn’t prepared to sit down and eat. What does that mean? A quick trip to Mickey D’s that we spotted. Yes, a double cheeseburger will do nicely, thank you mama.

Laurelhurst Park. This never gets old.

Lots of greenery, lots of smiling people, lots of airedmiration. Perfect.

Remember how I told you about walking down different streets? Sometimes you find really cool stuff:

Kitties that are apparently completely uninterested in me.

Beer tanks being installed.

A building that looks like a shipping crate bunker.

This is definitely a funny town… this is Bogart Handsome Devil, your intrepid reporter (who will work for cheeseburgers)…

Love,

Bogart

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April11th

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Stumbling Around Portland

Posted in: Airedale Fun, Portland

Hey Brooke and Greg! This is for you…

Mama spilled some of her secrets that you might be swinging by this way sometime this summer and that you might be staying here…

If it’s true – I’m looking forward to meeting you and showing you a bit of my Portland!!!!

We were just stumbling around (we do that a lot), and found a park with a curious structure in the center. As always, we had to investigate.

Not terribly interesting – but it did smell quite nice.

And although there were no cones to be easily spotted, I FOUND A CONE

All of the rain we have had recently sure does make things pretty.

And smelly.

Ah, so it’s called St. Francis Park. Good to know.

So now I’d like to just continue on my cone quest, lets head for a place that I know where cones will be. Eastbank Esplanade!

Just a few, you know, for the road…

I’m always on the road – when cones are involved! OH YEAH!!

Love,

Bogart

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April10th

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Cirque d’Airedale

Posted in: Airedale Fun, Portland

Sunny Saturday in downtown Portland. Lets walk down by the river shall we?

Everyone was at the Saturday Market (just behind us). Not a lot of other people out walking. I wonder why…

Oh, this might be why.

Yep, it’s a LITTLE windy…

So lets head away from the open river mama… I hear that something is going on in Pioneer Courthouse square…

The acrobats from Cirque du Soleil’s KOOZA are here performing! COOL!

Beautiful and amazing.

Hey hey hey… I know you like to look at the pretty acrobats, but WHAT ABOUT ME?

Love,

Bogart

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April5th

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My Red Raincoat

Posted in: Airedale Fun, Portland

Portland + April = RAIN

But no worries… I AM PREPARED

The rain doesn’t even slow me down… when I am wearing my spiffy red raincoat! The pine cone search must go on…

Whether they are in the aire…

Or on terra firma.

Springtime also = pretty tulips. Notice how the red of the flowers complements the red of my raincoat.

And the pink of my tongue (flecked with various pine cone pieces) also adds to the spring-y picture?

Mama thought at this point that the camera was going to be out of battery – ha! It can blink red all it wants, when there is this much cuteness going on even the camera knew it couldn’t quit…

Just try to resist me!!!

Oh, you think you are going to crap out on me, do you battery? I will just bust out the big guns…

Now even though many of my raincoat photos look absolutely perfect when you see them, things don’t always go as smoothly as they look.

Sometimes I do have to move around a lot to keep that damn hood off of my head.

Did I mention that I don’t really like the hood?

I mean it’s kind of funny and all (funny that you humans think that we dogs like hoods), but who says I have to wear it on top of my head?

I could wear it jauntily off to one side…

Or try to squiggle out of it.

Now this is getting embarrassing.

Oh mama, do you really want people to see me like this? Or better yet, do you want me to be able to see at all?

Oh lookie – a picture of something that is NOT me in my raincoat. Mama and I were really amazed by the vibrant purple flowers on this tree. They are really that bright!

The rain is about to start again… time to head for home. Gotta get started on my chicken soup, don’t you mama?

First a final bit of majestic posing.

And shaking.

And wistful daydreaming.

Oh the heck with that… time to JUMP UP!!!

And JUMP DOWN!!!

A final walk around what mama calls the “little dog toilet” – an area where all of the little doggies do their business and not as many people pick it up as other places. Yep, it’s a little dog toilet. Smells fine to me tho…

And heading for home… just as the rain starts up again. Perfect!

Love,

Bogart

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April4th

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Reading is Fund-aire-mental

Posted in: Airedale Fun, Portland

Sunday is often chore day. Even on a day like today when it is a holiday – no Easter egg hunts for us. And first things first, we have to return mama’s library books.

She gets stuff from the library all the time, and since I can’t go inside with her we utilize the book return box a lot.

It’s always the same – I wait, she unloads the books, I get startled at the sound of the drawer crashing…

And then we get to go do fun-ner stuff. Alas the weather is not cooperating today (the rainy season is again upon us here in Portland) so the walkie will be a bit abbreviated. But we WILL walk, won’t we mama?

Love,

Bogart

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March31st

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Bring On Da Funk

Posted in: Airedale Fun, Portland

Friends… Romans… Countrymen… I come to you for advice.

My trusty green nylon harness is FUNKY! I suppose that the years of wear along with my recent trips into the Willamette River have caused it to retain a very special funk that mama just cannot remove. Now I know what you’re thinking – BRING ON DA FUNK – and that’s what I think too, but mama is insistent that the funk must be removed.

She has tried many cleaners, letting it soak, but so far nothing has done the trick. Of course she could go out and buy me a new one (uh, I do think that I’m overdue for a spiffy one) but even if she did that she has realized that having a “backup harn-y” (as it is called in our house) is a really, really good thing to have.

So I turn my fuzzy ear in your direction – help a pup out, would ya? What do you recommend for cleaning a funky nylon harness?

Love,

Bogart

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March27th

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Bogart the Carpenter

Posted in: Airedale Fun, Portland

Sunny Saturday – time for a walk in the park… literally!

Forest Park is just truly lovely. It’s still really wet and mossy, but the sun is shining and I’m ready to roll.

As you already know, I am quite the connoisseur of sticks (and pine cones – but that’s another story). And the downed trees here always stimulate my stick urges. Even with my mighty jaws, I cannot pick these up and take them home in order to transform them – like a carpenter does – into something fabulous. Ok, so fabulous in my book translates to “little pieces scattered over a wide area”.

So I’ll humor mama a bit here and pose heroically on this mighty stump.

Are you absolutely sure we can’t take this one home mama? It would make a perfect stump for sitting and watching tv…

A few different poses? While still standing or sitting on top of the stump? Oh all right, if I have to…

Staring off into the distance, ready to leap off the stump at any moment and take down whoever needs to be taken down…

An ever-so -slightly different angle to increase the intensity (and length of tongue)…

How about sitting? Well, all right. Ears up, butt down.

Looking over one shoulder… check.

Looking off into the distance wistfully… check.

Another angle – yes, I like it when you do more of the work mama.

One last one – with my best smile (and only slight bit of exasperation):

Ok, I’m kind of over this now. Can we walk now mama?

NO MORE MODELLING – MUST WALK ON TRAIL NOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!

Coolarama. Back on the trail.

I say we do the big loop today – you might have to carry me home (you did bring extra chow and water, didn’t you mama?), but that’s fine with me!

Love,

Bogart

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March24th

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The Urban Oasis

Posted in: Airedale Fun, Portland

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but near my apartment there is a fantastic place that had been, well, lacking in the last few months. Something so wonderful that I would walk here before or after almost all walkies. An Urban Oasis if you will, a spot to stop and slurp the water, the “paws that refreshes”.

It is the William Wegman (he of the fine Wiemaraner photos) Public Dog Bowl. An ever-running bowl of love here in the North Park Blocks.

Over the last few months, I’d noticed that it wasn’t so much running as dribbling and have not paid it much mind. Not tasty nor interesting. But a few days ago I witnesed the bowl being serviced and thought that good things were ‘a comin…

The bowl is supposed to represent his kitchen floor… and I wholeheartedly approve.

Today the water was tasty and refreshing, and more importantly, running like a champ.

Thanks, WW! And give those fine Wiemaraners a big, sloppy, bearded kiss from me!

Love,

Bogart

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