Ralphie the dog

3.5 miles is a much longer walk when your legs are only four inches in length.

My best dog friend, Ralphie, is a bagel. Which is pretty much to say, he's got a basset hound body with a beagle head stuck on the front. He also has a fierce heart and would probably walk until his stumpy legs wore down to nubbins, well after my much-longer legs gave out. Ralphie and I no longer live in the same house, but he's always ready for a ride in the car and a nice long walk.

This photo was shot as we rested up after our walk on Portland's Esplanade on a beautiful weekend morning. We walked north from the Hawthorne Bridge to the Steel Bridge on the east side of the Willamette River, crossed over on the walking path of the bridge (as MAX trains and cars rumbled overhead) and then back south on the west side, amidst scores of runners and bicyclists.