Dear Dog Diary:

This month, Dude and I participated in Writing Up The Gorge - sort of - submitting 500 words written by our dog mom Barb Ayers en Plein Air (human speak for: outside.) We were in the car as she pulled over and wrote about our hometown of Mosier and the people that came before us - All the Who's in Whoville.

Photo: Barb Ayers  www.DogDiary.org — Photo: Barb Ayers www.DogDiary.org

That short story told the tale of the original Wilson farmhouse, a Sears Catalog home, built in 1907 - the home we live in. It was sort of humanistic and a little sappy - not great for dog readers. But Whoville came to life. It's on exhibit 'til the end of the month at Columbia Center for the Arts.

Meanwhile, I hung up a shingle today at the Art Center as a Dog Writer in Residence.

Mom shot pictures (naturally.) I was the official writer dog and greeter.

We love supporting our nonprofit hometown art center. Mom volunteers there, too. They are so nice. They have art, theater and arts education. I hope you have one in your community, too.

“OOH! Almost had a sentence going - but then a person walked by outside.... looky that human in the window! Dog-gone... writer’s block - a.k.a. human distraction.”

Looking for inspiration...  Photo: Barb Ayers  www.DogDiary.org — **Looking for inspiration...** Photo: Barb Ayers www.DogDiary.org

“Taking a break - thought I smelled a dog...”

“Look! Another dog in the gallery... another art officionado doxie, even!!!! Another rescue dog! Triple score!”

learning about art from the gallery manager.jpg

Photo: Barb Ayers www.DogDiary.org

"Dogs appreciate art, we really do. Here, I'm taking in the view. The Columbia Center for the Art's "Emerging Artists" exhibit is modern - normally we're more into nature pix or paw prints or dog paintings... but really there is some very cool stuff to see here.

Check out that gnarly dude on the wall with the big teeth. Good Gawd, I think he's holding his heart. In his paw. Whatintheheck???"

Photos: Barb Ayers www.DogDiary.org

"OK, OK - back to work. I got this. How about a dog blog - "I'm a Writer in Residence?" Hmmm, let me think about that concept. Might need some human spell checking. If that gnarly dude would stop staring at me, I might actually get a paragraph written."