Meloncollie

We had to give Henry back to the adoption agency after two minor biting incidents. I'm sad about it, but we had no choice.

Henry wasn't very sure of himself (given his background, that isn't surprising) and he and Ellie weren't getting along. She is fairly protective of us and he was very interested in food which turned out to be a very bad combination. When the kids were walking around with food (which they shouldn't do), he would be close behind and Ellie didn't like that. A squabble broke out and Kate got bit on the hip.

We chalked that one up to accident. However, there was another incident where he nipped at Sophie while they were really close together. No harm done, but absolutely unacceptable for a dog to nip anyone in that situation.

I dropped him off this afternoon at the kennel where ARPH will get him fostered again. I wish things had worked out and he has a lot of good qualities. Hopefully, he will not have to wait long to find a forever home.

Warmer

Another picture to remind me that it isn't always cold. This is the overly crowded beach at Figure 8 Island.

Henry

I went and picked up Henry, our newly adopted dog, yesterday. Here is a picture of us at the exchange point - the Confederate War Memorial in Madison, VA. We got him from the Aussie Rescue and Placement Helpline, which was a pretty good organization to work with.

He's a purebred Austrailian Shepherd but is much smaller than L10. Ellie probably outweighs him by 8-10 lbs. and is much furrier so they almost look like different breeds. He's a blue merle with brown eyes and is quite handsome.

So far, he has integrated into the house nicely but needs some refinement in manners. He is very food and attention motivated. I know he's been bounced around a bit so I think he is overcompensating. We'll have to work on a few things, but he has an excellent role model to emulate.

On a different topic, the drive took me through Charlottesville north on Route 29. Once north of 250, I experienced all of the bad things about Northern Virginia - stop and go traffic, shopping centers and tract houses on cleared land. There used to be just quirky rural stores and outposts between Rio Hill and Madison. Remind me again how this kind of growth is good?

Warmer

I found this this picture from a mid-July concert the kids and I went to at St. Mary's College with my sister and her family on my phone today. I remember it being really hot. Hot sounds good right now.

Goat

If you are looking for me tomorrow, I'll be at the Commonwealth Goat Club meeting in Madison. I'm looking forward to it.

Water

The Economist has an alarming article about the state of the world's oceans in last week's issue. The article discusses the many environmental problems that will likely start to bite in the near future. The most alarming issues are all related to the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere and include rising sea levels due to ocean melt, an increase in the acidity of the sea and the spread of algae blooms (red tides). Although the consequences for the world's ecology are dire, the ramifications for people are severe.

To me, it was eye-opening to read such a bleak assessment in a paper that does not have a lefty agenda. I'd expect this kind of piece in The Nation, but from this source (they endorsed George Bush in 2000) it has more of an impact.

Plasma

Over the holidays, I bought the family an flat-panel HDTV - a Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80U. There wasn't anything wrong with the 32" Sanyo that had been doing yeoman's work in our family room since 2000. But after years of seeing them in bars and other people's homes and noticing that the prices had gotten below $1000, I decided to take the plunge.

I'm quite glad I did. I'm not a big TV watcher, but I do watch my share of sports (my wife would say more than my share). The worst part is that now I really miss HD clarity and detail in regular definition. The HD picture is unbelivably sharp and bright and you see stuff you never noticed before. I'm hoping that lacrosse coverage on ESPNU this spring is going to be in HD, but I don't think they have it quite yet.

First

A picture of Ellie gazing sagely at the valley from our first hike of the year yesterday. It was a beautiful, warm day for early January and we had a nice hike up at Chestnut Ridge.

We have gotten approval from the Australian Shepherd Rescue and Placement people to adopt a dog. Hopefully, we will have another dog to hike with Ellie in the near future.

Movies

We saw two movies over the holiday season which will probably match our total for the year. Both were entertaining.

The first was Marley and Me which worked well for me. I could relate to the situation that the people were in with career, kids and a dog (although our dog is fairly well behaved net of the occasional escape from the yard). I was a little teary when Marley dies at the end (I don't feel that is a spoiler because don't all good dog movies end that way?) Anyway, it was schmaltzy but fit the bill for a family Christmas movie.

Kate and I had a movie night last night and went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This one is about a guy, Benjamin, who is born old and gets younger. Benjamin has an existential viewpoint on all of this and understands that everything ends, even if it is going against the typical grain. The lifelong romance he had with Daisy was intriguing and the movie had a realistic take on the types of relationships people have (even if they are going in in reverse). The story was interesting and compelling but it could have been a bit more tightly edited. I'm not sure why people think a 3 hour movie is a good idea - it just makes my butt hurt. 30 minutes of that could have been left on the cutting room floor and it would not have impacted the story. This was the best movie I've seen in the last year. See it but be sure to bring your neck pillow to the theater.

Kalamzoo

I've talked about the Kalamazoo Promise previously. I was perusing a newsletter sent to us by the Roanoke City Schools and it looks like they are trying to get something similar going here. It is called the Roanoke Community College Access Program and it looks like a great start. The program is currently limited to Virginia Western Community College and doesn't have full funding, but if it keeps even a few high school kids more engaged, it's worth it.

époque

We rang in the Belle Epoque last night. Cirque du Soleil was interesting and it really worked well in the space. Everyone had good time in beautiful surroundings, but the music reminded me of the soundtrack of a fraternity party circa 1991.

The kids rang in the new year in a slightly different way.