Saturday, Leo, Panda and I decided to walk around Portland a bit. Panda doesn't really love "social" settings, she's more of a reclusive nature girl. She's definitely gotten better over the years, but it's still a little overwhelming to be in the city. We try to give her small doses of relatively positive experiences in public places when we can and lots of good times at places she’s more comfortable.
After walking along the river for a while, we headed back inland for some lunch at a wonderful Thai restaurant. We sat outside, enjoying our great meal and giving Panda a little breather from the hot weather and noisy city only to hear a bit of a commotion coming up the street.
What was it?
An immigrants' rights parade.
The "haters" sign amuses me to no end.
Panda, on the other hand....
...Is NOT amused. If you aren't an animal person, you may not be able to read her expression, but to me, this screams "get me the hell OUT of here." Click the image to get the full effect. I can't help but laugh. I know it's wrong, but I do anyway.
Once the parade passed, we found a quiet route back to the car and ran into this little guy:
And if you are wondering, here's his tag:
He's a part of this project. How cute is that? Check out some of the other pictures in the galleries.
Oh Panda girl! My Bella isn't so much for the crowds either. The look on her face is so HUMAN.
Aw, poor Panda! Chappy would have had the exact same look on his face . . . except he would have either been huddled behind my chair, or, perhaps, barking "Go away! Go aWAY!" Frankly, I've never been much for parades, either . . .
And the horse? So cute!
Oh those horses are cute! What a great idea.
Poor Panda! One of our dogs isn't a crowd fan either.
Poor Panda! I know a lot of dogs who adore persons but not people. Meaning, one on one or two on two, but not 100 on 1. She is so good natured not to totally freak though.
And the horses are SO CUTE!
I have some pictures of another horse over by the office building that my friend used to work in. My tiny horse photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebon/138664362/
Poor Panda! I hope you got her the hell out of there. Caia reserves that stance for the vacuum cleaner.
The horse is way cool. I think I'm going to be jealous of your cool Portland life.
Oh, Panda. The things she must endure. Dakota would FREAK! Looks like you're having fun exploring the area, though!
Poor Panda, another trip to the coast is definitely in order. :-)
It's funny that you discovered the horses, I just learned of them recently in this blog post .. http://abbytrysagain.typepad.com/abbytryagain/2006/08/yellow.html
yeah thats purty cute for a city sidewalk. very folksy. are you loving it?
Those horses are so cute! I've never noticed them before, but now I'll be on the lookout. *I saw on the map that there's one on Hawthorne. Maybe I'll look for it when we're out to see The Harlot tonight at Powell's!
That's the look Rex reserves for small children. I guess his cute fuzzy face attracts them, but the very sight of a wee one toddling toward him gives him the terrors.
Her ears are a dead give away. Cute picture :-)