Ballard Street by Jerry Van Amerongen for October 18, 2018

Scooter joins him from time to time, always from ambush. That accounts for all the mud, grass stains and divots.

What Allen needs is one of those inflatable toys that can’t be knocked over. Or a big, honkin’ pool toy. Best one of those I ever saw a kid produce was an orca.

Smaller than a wrestling\boxing ring.

Yes, Allen. A man has to know his limitations.

Let’s see, so far he has taken down a comb, a post-it-note, Rusty’s favorite ball and the spine from War and Peace. Will his pencil be next? The suspense is agonizing!

My dogs can rough house individually, I am trying to imagine Allen doing it. Get your tail, Allen!

He’s hoping that the intensive training will lead to stardom on the wrestling circuit.

Judgement, Queen of Coins.

Allen feels that if his play date is late, what the heck start without ’em.

Some people are going to blame Connie for Allen’s space being curtailed… but it’s not her fault.

Now, don’t get me wrong… she’s not exactly sorry….

But Allen did it himself.

He works really hard on that lush green lawn…. mowing, fertilising, reseeding….

a lawn takes care… and water…

And there’s his precious vegetable plot, with 8 varieties of tomatoes, purple beans, and exotic Asian greens, among other things.

No way was he going to let his roughhousing self ruin a single blossom on his Gypsy peppers or winter squash.

So he picked out a patch, and marked it out….

and he gets in trouble with himself if he does anything wild outside the boundaries.

Connie is really glad he chose an outdoor location for it….

especially when dogs like Scooter come by for play dates.

Shouldn’t this be called roughyarding; perhaps even roughbackyarding?

That old library card down there in the grass giving you a hard time, eh Allen? Hang in there. Fight on!

Allen likes to chaise his own tail.

does he have another designated area for horse play?

Allen, it’s time to put your straight jacket back on.

Notice the space is behind Connie’s loung chair.

If it keeps him docile at supper it is an excellent idea

I think the comb is from when he was playing Police Chief and said, “Okay, men, let’s comb the area!” It was actually presentable after that, but it didn’t last long.

Allen’s been having trouble sleeping lately. The roughhousing tires him out and he’s able to rest better at night.