Well, not really--I don't have a dog. But I DO have a new ukulele that I am learning to play, and the tuning of the four strings--G, C, E, and A is known as "My Dog Has Fleas".
After Donna and Russ of Travels in Therapy showed me their ukuleles when we camped together, I realized that I had a yen to make some music, too. Sure, I have a piano at home, but I'm always afraid of offending the neighbors when I pound away on it. And the piano is definitely not portable!
I had bought a ukulele years ago when we were on a trip to Hawaii, but I had sold it during one of our downsizing moves. Donna told me that she got her ukulele at Costco, so that's where I decided to buy mine. The two Vancouver, WA, Costco stores didn't have them in the warehouse, but the Portland store did, so off I went to buy the Ukulele in Oregon.
This particular model has a built-in chromatic tuner which is very handy. Now that I have had the ukulele for three weeks, it stays in tune pretty well most of the time, with only an occasional minor tweak.
I checked out all the ukulele books that were in our library system, including "Ukulele for Dummies". I have worked my way through all of the books, and each book has been helpful in its own way, if only to give me more chances to practice chords, note-picking, and finger-picking.
Riding the train
On Wednesday, we spent the morning with our daughter-in-law, Kiersten, and our two granddaughters, Sophie and Anya. We went to Oaks Park, an amusement park in Portland. They were having their weekly pre-school special, with all the kiddy rides included for $6.50 per child, with adults free. No other rides or concessions were open, so it was nice and quiet and the little ones didn't get inundated by older kids.
Afterwards, we celebrated a belated birthday for Dave (his actual birthday was September 20) by having lunch at Macadam Bar and Grill in Portland. Our son, Tim, was able to join us for lunch since his office isn't far from there.
Carousel ride
