Blue Dog

Everybody in the neighborhood, keeper-of-dogs or not, knows our Citizens for Off-Leash Areas (COLA) local dog park, Blue Dog. It's a giant hole in the earth intended to catch storm-water overflow. In winter, the place is, well, wet. Too wet for humans and dogs; only the very brave visit. In the summer, it's quite dry. Dusty, even.

It is rarely busy, and hasn't yet struck me (person to a big yellow labrador retriever named Yagi) as a great community-building place. I hope I'm wrong about that, though we've been visiting there since for about seven years.

In spite of how quiet it is, there seems to be good stuff happening. The basin got some attention last week from the Parks Department (sand and grading, at right), and park stewardship (which I am embarrassed to say does not include me) has posted a list of planned improvements to the grounds, including terracing the steep slopes, installing drains for improved water flow (though the whole park is a drain), and planting a flower garden.

Blue Dog is one of many great resources we have in the Colman Triangle. It may be tough to find a cup of coffee within walking distance (more on this later), but I don't have to load my dog into the car to take him to an off-leash area, which is great. Thanks, COLA!

Top image: http://www.coladog.org/images/pic_bluedog.jpg