An Old Familiar

Walk: City Creek Canyon off-leash dog trail
Length: 2 miles?
Duration: 1 hour?

Here is a picture I took at the top of the off-leash trail at Memory Grove. The dogs had to wait patiently in position while I got the camera set up, and then not move as I came rushing at them to take my place. It took several tries to get it right, and to make sure I didn't look too much like a mushroom.

Walking this trail is nostalgic, because I used to bring the dogs here all the time when we lived on Capitol Hill. The dogs knew where we were as soon as we got out of the car, and the race to the off-leash section was on. As we walked, I was very conscious of how obnoxious Ida is, but also of how she is improving slightly. We're going to have a dogsitter in July to take care of the dogs while we are up at Snowbird for the Folk and Bluegrass Festival. I thought about all the weird shit that I do to control my dogs, and wondered how I'm going to be able to convey that to Meghan, or whether, indeed, I need to. Am I just over-controlling? If I wasn't here, would they be placid, friendly little beasties? I don't think so. So, I will have to explain to Meghan Ida's psychology (wow...I'm really starting to sound like a harf!): she wants dominance, but she's also very very fearful. I'd say that's one of the worst combinations for a dog. The way this comes out on the trail is that she feels she needs to control every little movement that Shed makes. If I let her, she will keep him corralled and cowering at my ankles for the entire walk. The only way to break her of this is to make her heel, and tell Shed to go ahead. If he breaks out first, she'll ignore him. Making Shed go first, however, also takes some work because his psychology is to be submissive and avoid confrontation, and he doesn't often believe that I can really stop Ida from herding him. He eventually will run out a little ways, but when I release Ida from the heel and she comes running up to him, he always crouches down and braces himself for the blow he knows is coming. I actually think that move of his is very cute...sad, but cute.

One happy thing for Shed is that he is unafraid of other dogs (unlike Ida). So here he is going in for a nice butt smell on a huge saint bernard. Ida gave this dog as wide a berth as she could. If she's really scared (usually when a dog approaches her), she'll put her hackles up and start whining softly. Occasionally, if a dog gets too pushy, she'll turn and snark him. This never happens, however, if I tell her calmly that she is okay and to just keep moving.

Sometimes I feel like a real idiot when I'm walking my dogs. Why can't I just have normal dogs who run and frolic and play? No I have to have these weird creatures with their social hangups...I mean CUTE weird creatures!

Other highlights from this walk include wild rose bushes...

lots of water...

a snake!...

and the rock footprint.
After the walk, I went to the yarn store and bought some lace weight yarn in a blueish-gray called "Charcoal." I've been wanting to try knitting lace for quite a while now, so I've found this pattern: halcyon. I'm going to knit it without the god-awful ugly ribbon and bow at the ends. Really...why ugly up a pattern as nice and simple as that?

The Walk: Porter Fork in Millcreek Canyon

Length: 1 hour

Distance: ?

Well, in the heat of the afternoon, the dogs and I headed up Millcreek Canyon despite the skeptical looks of Molly, who objects on principle to the $2.25 fee you must pay as you leave the canyon. But I wanted real canyon hiking though, and Millcreek is the only close canyon that allows dogs (off leash, no less!), so that's where I went.

I was disappointed, however, in my choice of walks. I pulled off at Porter Fork, on the recommendation of my mom, and perhaps under the supernatural influence of Orrin Porter Rockwell (the avenging angel!). Porter Fork is a paved road, with private cabins lining it, following a fork of Mill Creek up a steep canyon. It was pretty enough, the dogs loved playing in the water, and there was sometimes enough shade, but not enough. And the paved road, the houses, and the cars kept getting me down. Still I had that moment I was looking for of "I'm up in the middle of a goddamn canyon!!!" on the way down, when I looked up from my feet (I'm pretty clumsy) and saw this vista:


It made me pretty happy! I don't know why...just did. $2.25 worth of view, right here...If only Shed would turn around, that is (there were other hikers coming up the road, just around that bend).

Along the road, I saw many dandelions. I wondered if they had been carried up on the undercarriages of cars visiting the cabins, or if they grew naturally as a weed in the Rockies. As I walked along, I thought about that bunch of "Dandelion Greens" that I often see at the grocery store next to the Kale and Chard and Collard Greens. It runs, maybe $1.99, $2.49. I've never bought them because I always think "why should I buy something that grows for free on my lawn?"

Seeing all those dandelions growing for free on the side of the road, away from the fertilizing and pesticides of urban lawns, it made sense to collect some for dinner tonight. See, Molly, I broke even on my trip to Millcreek, because I got the greens free, see there? Of course, Molly would never pay money for greens, period, not liking them. But she knows I like them (knows...not the same as understands), and knows I often pay good money for them. What's another thing she doesn't understand? The kale I'm growing in our raised backyard vegetable garden. I'm sure she sees it as a waste of good space where basil could be growing for pesto, bruschetta, and tomato/basil/brie pasta...Molly's trinity of favorite dishes. There are things like this, and times when we just don't get each other's ways. The other night when she had insomnia and lay in bed staring at the ceiling (something that unnerves me greatly...I'd rather be reading a book), I looked over at her and said "I don't even understand one thing about you right now! You're like a completely separate person from me" (duh!). After 10 years of marriage, it seemed revolutionary to say. I'm sure she thinks the same about me all the time.

So I turned one of the plastic bags I picked up for dog poop at the beginning of the trail into a dandelion bag. I pulled the youngest, smallest looking leaves I encountered (though I didn't avoid all flowering plants...apparently the rule if you want to avoid bitterness in the greens). I cooked them with dinner tonight by blanching them in water with garlic, then sauteeing in olive oil with some honey, lemon juice, and salt. It ended up good...bitter, but yummy.

One small problem I have with Porter Fork is envy. Seeing these cute, old cabins up along the creek makes me nostalgic and envious. One little yellow house had smoke coming from the stone chimney...it was a lovely smell and a lovely sight:
Unlike the ugly, ostentatious, over-sized new construction going on across the road and up the creek a bit:
The trees and vans here occlude some of the uglier bits...but trust me, it's UG-LY. And big.

Nevertheless, Porter Fork was a good walk. Enjoyable. Especially for these two rascals:

Walk: Shoreline Trail, between Red Butte Gardens and This is the Place Monument State Park.

Distance: 2 1/2 miles?

Length: 50 minutes

On this, my first day of freedom after my first year as a teacher at Waterford, I took a walk with my parents, their dog Schatze (on left), and my dogs Shed (middle) and Ida (right). My parents are both recovering from knee replacement surgeries, but still they sometimes outstripped me on the trail. How sad. I realized recently that there are no stairs in my life now. My house is one story. The school I teach at is one story. And that's about the extent of my past 9 months. The walks in my new neighborhood (much to my enjoyment) are mostly flat...only by heading in one direction (east) do I ever face a steep grade. Somehow, I always walk north, or south, or west. So, climbing to the base level of the Shoreline Trail winded me a bit.

Even though Shoreline is an on-leash trail (with lots of joggers and bikers), my father insisted that NO ONE walks their dogs on leash there. So, the pooplers ran and ran. All in all, they probably walked three times the distance we did. They also lolled in mud puddles...and sprawled in large swaths of grass, tall and green from all the rain we've had lately...
I took lots of pictures of flowers for some reason. This is something I normally object to. Perhaps it was the unfettered freedom that got to me...the sense that nothing I did today matters to anyone. Having no classes to plan for, no papers to grade, no students to worry about was blissful. And so...
Walking with Lyn and Russ is mostly talking about flowers, politics, the dogs, and upcoming social events. Not much time for ruminating, but an enjoyable spin nonetheless. I don't like how sunny this walk is, but I must admit it's a beautiful view. After the walk, my parents joined me to meet Molly at Koko kitchen for a celebratory lunch of sushi and noodles. Feeling done with the school year has made me very happy today. I planted. I weeded. I read The Crocodile Street by Bruno Schultz. I looked at books I have yet to read. I harvested the first veggies from my new garden (chard), then at 6:00 P.M. (10 hours after posting final grades), I get this e-mail from a student:

hi Dr. Taylor,
I hope you're enjoying summer!! I'm trying to! but i keep having this feeling to email about you recieving my paper. So i'm curious to know if u did? I hope you get this soon! and i can hear back from you! and have a great summer! Oh and one more question! what's my current grade in your class?

thanks,

Xxxxx Xxx

Hmmmph. So many exclamation marks. Such neglect of proper capitalization. Such inconsistent use of "u" rather than "you" (I don't mind abbreviation, but choose one or the other and be consistent!). Such an airhead thing to e-mail your teacher 2 1/2 weeks after the essay was actually due. And now, suddenly, I have one more thing to worry about before I can put school out of my mind completely. So it goes.

More from the outpost of Summer in a few days.