Dog Park Love

Good news, people: an off-the-leash dog park has opened in Memphis! Yesterday, during my daily read of online newspapers I caught a story about a new dog park. We've grown accustom to driving out to Shelby Farms or Bartlett to the off-the-leash dog areas. This new park is right behind the Board of Education {less than 5 minutes from our house}. As loyal park visitors this is a dream come true. The park is 1.5 acres and has a separate area for small dogs. We opted to visit on opening day early in the morning. When we arrived, I took Gunther to the small dog area and Peter took Lily to the main area. There was a small opening day rush in Lily's area but Gunther's area was fairly empty. After 20 minutes in the small dog area, and some desperate pleading from G., I opted to take Gunther into the larger area. He loved it. So did Lily. We stayed for over an hour since the crowd thinned out. For most of the time, the only dogs at the park were ours and their new friend Marlo. They ran around, played fetch, checked the perimeter, and eventually lay around, exhausted.

Container Garden

This summer I opted to grow a small herb garden. Originally, I had a bit of basil, lavender, and rosemary in the same container. In no time at all the basil grew wildly and started to suffocate the rosemary. As a result, I had to get a couple more pots so I could separate the herbs. But there was trouble.

When Peter and I moved into our house there was a dead black walnut tree in the back corner of the yard. We cut it down and have not made even a lackadaisical attempt to remove the stump. For one month, the herbs sat on the stump. The only issue, and it was a big one, was the dogs. It became obviously that the herbs could not thrive in peace on the stump. So we got some rings to mount the plants on the fence. And now everyone is happy. {I like the plants on the fence so much I'm going to exand my container garden to include 4 more mounted pots later this week}.

Will Hoge @ Levitt Shell

Last night we went to the Levitt Shell for a Will Hoge concert. The Levitt Shell is a venue in Overton Park dedicated to free, outdoor performances. Each spring {really, early summer} and fall they run a concert series featuring an eclectic mix of performers. After picking up my Levitt Shell Spring Concert Schedule in the most recent Memphis Flyer, I immediately recognized Will Hoge's name.
When I was a freshman or sophomore at Clemson, I drove to Greenville for a Will Hoge concert at the Peace Center with my dear roommate {the one who ultimately graduated from Penn State}. I've listened to his music a bit since then, but honestly that was a few more years ago than I consider to be "recent history." Either way, Peter and I planned on going to the concert.
We also planned on getting a few of our friends to come along. Many of our friends in Memphis are transplants like us and have been functional Memphians for at least a few years; yet, they have never been to a Levitt Shell show. Based on crowd size alone, it appears that Levitt Shell popularity grows with every season.
The show itself was very good and, of course, family friendly. One of the major perks of the Levitt Shell is the way it welcomes families and children. Will Hoge even said during a little break, "Seeing all of these kids...makes me miss my own." Sweet? Right. I was surprised by how many of the songs I knew considering I haven't listened to Will Hoge in years. But, he's still very talented and in one evening managed to convert at least one of our friends into a want-to-be Levitt Shell regular.