Arlo Goes to Tall Trees

Arlo got the default morning loop today, 0.85 miles according to Google Earth, as I had a 9 am appointment, and well… you know how I am in the morning. No last hurrahs, either, as he is scheduled to be picked up “Tuesday afternoon.” But we had a good walk yesterday morning, when I took him to Tall Trees Cemetery. Tall Trees is another of the magnificent greenspaces that makes this part of the city so special, and I am more than fond of it. It is adjacent to the university. I spent a lot of time there as an undergraduate, some in dendrology labs, but mostly just recreating, hiking with friends and such.


I am always torn when caring for Arlo. He loves to run, does crazy figure-eights on top of himself where he pivots on his back end spinning himself silly. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. But he also took off once when Sis was watching him, and I don’t want to have to tell my parents I lost their dog. Arlo is also very strange around people, not mean by any stretch, but unbelievably timid. I don’t want him to be approached by a stranger and feel threatened, and resort to defending himself. Apparently the mailman in my parent’s neighborhood is so terrified of the beast that he won’t even deliver their mail anymore. And there are a lot of kids in my neighborhood. I cannot risk a chomping. So I am exceedingly paranoid about taking him off the leash, and knowing how much he loves to run, this makes me feel quite guilty.

So yesterday we veered into Tall Trees Cemetery, not at the main entrance, but the smaller one by the flower shop. We wound about on a convoluted route, and I scoped the place out. By the time we got up top, past the Centennial Monument, out towards the old landfill area, I was pretty certain we were not going to be disturbed. The only other humans I’d seen were creeping along in automobiles. And there is a big open field up there, with a good viewshed. I’d see anyone approaching long before they got close. So I deleashed him, and let the beast run. Fun, fun. And he slept for hours when we got back.