We took another walk today. It was warmer. We walked along the river side of the plaza and found the street that runs along behind it. I had been right. There was just a driveway part way up the hill and when we crossed it, the sidewalk continued to the next street. We walked the two long blocks down to Lakin. It was very quiet which was very pleasant. WE turned right, crossed the little brick street and found another sidewalk which led us back to 3rd Street. Elwood was quite grumpy. I turned to walk back toward the bridge. He didn’t want to do that. We had already been walking for over a half an hour. When we got to Hall, he turned. No, we’re going across. He thought about not going across but I prevailed. Then I turned him back up the hill and we walked around the plaza, only crossing one superfluous street on our way around. I think we can walk down on the other side of the street, but there was the sound of construction so I forebore until a more opportune time. Elwood was still hurrumphing. He wanted to turn and walk west along 3rd Street instead of turning for home. We were out more than an hour. I’m feeling it and fell asleep in my chair this afternoon reading I Robot which I think I may have read before but there are only whispers of what I had read before. I also got the adult forum for today posted at http:/thewingedox.blogspot.com

Today was cool and without rain. I put on my sweatshirt and Elwood and I went for a long walk. I decided to stick to 3rd Street. I didn’t feel up to messing with 6th Street since we hadn’t done this route in a while for a number of reasons. Saturday seemed like a good opportunity.We walked as far as Lakin then turned around. Elwood was cross. He moved along smartly up until this point. When we crossed Hall, I turned right to go alongside the plaza. Could we walk around it.Well, walking into unknown territory has its rewards and its shortcomings. We didn’t get lost. We did run out of sidewalk, found a brick path that led to a structure and found a sidewalk that terminated at blacktop. Elwood turned, but I am still wondering if we could have crossed it to get to 3rd St. I will test that hypothesis starting out at 3rd another day.We retraced our steps, but Elwood thought we should cross a brick street. I didn’t remember crossing that street, but then we had walked, turned around, walked, turned around such that I thought I may have been mistaken. Well, I wasn’t mistaken. Elwood wanted to keep going. I hadn’t realized Hall was brick at this point. We passed a man with a dog and ended up at another street corner. I turned right and came to another street, turned right again expecting to be back in front of the funeral home. Wrong. Unbeknownst to me, we weren’t walking along 3rd Street. We came into Hall. Crossing this yet named street, we made our way back to 3rd, crossed and walked in front of the plaza and home.It was a good walk and we found some more places to walk and we never were particularly lost; I just didn’t always know exactly where I was which is a very different thing. Being lost is not having a clue even which way to turn or having the feeling you will walk indefinitely and not come to something familiar.

I subscribe to netflix. As a result, I often have dvds to mail back. I use the mailbox behind the post office complex on East 2nd Street. There is a miailbox closer, but I use this one because it also affords us a walk especially if we go around the post office complex. I’ve been teaching Elwood to find the mailboxes. Previously, I had to do this by trial and error. At first, we missed it and had to go back. Today I gave the command “mailbox” beforehand, when I thought we were nearby. Elwood went right to the bank of mailboxes and I could drop my discs in. Much praise. I think I will tell him every time we take that route whether or not we have anything to mail. He wouldn’t care. I could even open and close the door as if I were mailing something to emphasize his find was worthwhile. I think Elwood is gullible enough to believe I was mailing something because the concept of mailing anything is beyond him.

I found this link to an article about this year’s ugliest dog. His name is Elwood and he is two years old. There’s a picture. I also found out that Elwood is Chuck Yeager’s middle name.

Elwood is a very smart dog. He is excellent in crossing streets and handling traffic. He relies on crosswalks. He is learning how to behave in social situations. He is affectionate and reminds me of the dogs in cartoons. However … Elwood has no common sense. Yesterday he ate a dish towel. He also got sick. Dish towels are not digestable so I have been picking up clumps of tried-to-be-digested dish towel all over the house. ...

At the rail this morning … I knelt for annointing. Elwood laid down next to me and began to inch forward. And then … He licked Mother Susan’s toes.

Fooling around more with the camera. Learning where images are stored. Unfortunately, the camera ap doesn’t speak so I had to be content with either photos or videos and not switching between them.

Today has been a glorious day. It was cool. We went for a long walk and Elwood got through the trouble spots just fine. I lost track of streets and when he wanted to turn down one I said okay knowing that I could probably figure out where the stop sign was where we cross. Less trucks especially on the bridge. Some people out. At one point we met some people we know who were putting grass seed in front of the building. ...

Gail mentioned Elwood looked as if he had filled out and was older looking. Elwood has gained some weight. It seems he has gained weight in his face. He is broader around the eyes making his head appear wider. Talk about having a fat face or a fat head! Earlier today I went to the farmer’s market and brought home some small green peppers, wonderfully unique in their conformation: no two alike. One rolled out of the bag onto the floor. Elwood thought it was his. Fortunately, someone else realized the problem and took it away from him but not before he has made it unusable for human consumption. I was worried that he would eat the inside of the pepper and become ill. ...

Elwood wants to take a walk but today hasn’t been a good day for a walk. The temp is fine. I’ve just had things to do. We went to the Farmer’s MArket. Elwood sniffed, went under the tables to see what is stored there and ate a flower. Elwood came home, and after having his flea stuff was aplied, went and curled up on the day bed. He’s near the same color as the day bed but he has brown eyes and the comforter on the bed does not so someone saw him there. ...