Oops and Yummy!

Hi,

This week has been split between lovely, sunny days and rainy days. As much as we would have liked to enjoy the sunny days by heading out on adventures, I am still attending physical therapy five days a week. I’m not complaining, I need the rehab to get my left arm up to snuff, but I sure would like to have time to spend an entire day walking around a new site – a castle, an overlook, a forest, or a beach – I am not choosy. Anything would be great. But, since the therapy is doing wonders for me, I will not put it on hold. I will go every day and soon my arm will be 100% better!

Until then, we are contenting ourselves with local things to do. We owe it to the dogs to take them for walks or to the dog parks whenever possible, barring total downpours, of course. And one of the sunny days this week we went to a dog park that is nearby (Parque Canino on Rua Joly Braga Santos). This is our fallback place to visit. Both Opal and Onyx love this park. Onyx has plenty of room to run and chase balls, and Opal is happy because there are almost always other dogs there for her to play with. Win-Win.

When we visited, the sun was shining, and it was a balmy 60 degrees Fahrenheit. I know that doesn’t sound very warm, but a black dog running in the sun can quickly overheat. So quickly, that even though we were watching for it, Onyx almost had a problem with her Exercise-Induced Collapse. But she warned us she was having trouble, and we were able to let her cool down without her developing the severe shakes and disorientation that can overcome her if she gets too hot. Such a clever girl. You can see in this video that she just stood still and wouldn’t drop her ball, which clued us in (what you cannot see is that just previous to the start of the video, Onyx’s back legs were stiff, and she stumbled slightly when she walked). If she had dropped her ball, Chris would have thrown it, and then she would have been compelled to chase after it. So, she didn’t drop it, which gave her time to cool down and avert the collapse.

The other thing we did this week was more fun, but we couldn’t take the dogs with us. A few weeks ago, I received an email from my ex-coworker, Laura, regarding the when and where of our monthly get-together for lunch. Knowing I couldn’t possibly make the luncheon this month (or any months anytime in the near future), I still wanted to be involved. So, with a little planning, we arranged that Chris and I would go to lunch (a very late lunch – at 5pm) here in Porto at the same time they all went to lunch in Atlanta, and I would call and say hello to everyone. It was a great idea (thank you, Chris!) and thanks to a clever calendar on my phone, I managed to get the right date (I thought it was next Friday, but it was this Friday).

Long story short (I know, I’ve already passed that point), we were able to join the party in spirit, even if we could not physically be in the same place as them. It was fun to see them all again. Plus, I posted some pictures of the Say Cheesecake & Co café that we visited. It is a small café in Porto near Igreja e Torre dos Clérigos. The front door opens on a counter and register, which you walk past to seating in the rear that used to be a courtyard, I assume. It is roofed over with a glass ceiling, so it is an inside/outdoor dining room. Quite beautifully done.

Nola