We Love Our Dogs

Yes, everybody loves dogs. A person’s dog is part of the image one wants to present to others. In Portland, it’s common to find water bowls outside the entrances to businesses.

After years of planning and work, the city of Portland officially opened the South Waterfront Greenway in what was previously a heavy industrial area.

Late last May the fences came down from around the new sod. Here’s what it looked like: lush green grass.

South Waterfront Greenway - May 2015
South Waterfront Greenway – May 2015

Perfect for walking your dog. Here’s what it looks like less than two months later.

South Waterfront Greenway - July 2015
South Waterfront Greenway – July 2015

Water Fight

California’s San Joaquin Valley produces 25% of our nation’s table food using 1% of the nation’s land. Grapes – table, raisin and wine – cotton, nuts – especially almonds and pistachios – lettuce, citrus, tomatoes are among the more than 250 crops grown in the area. Pretty impressive for what is basically a desert. But it’s using up what water it has available.

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Country Hardball

During the Independence Day weekend, the downtown plaza in Sonoma (population 10,600) was filled with people enjoying the holiday entertainment and browsing the surrounding shops and restaurants and wine-tasting venues. Two blocks beyond the plaza, three hundred baseball fans watched the Sonoma Stompers take on the San Rafael Pacifics. The finale was a Sunday double-header: afternoon game in Sonoma, then a thirty-mile ride to San Rafael for the evening contest. The Pacifics won both.

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