Daydreams during the dog days

Thursday, Aug. 31, 2006 | 7:27 a.m.

I'm LaVatta Martin. I've been coming to the dog park for several months. I've lived in Las Vegas for a year. I love having this park. There wasn't anything like this in Ohio.

Scruffy isn't one to get down and run around and play. He's older and he's a grumpy dog, but he wants to be out here to watch all the other dogs, and so I keep coming even though he sits on my lap and growls at everybody.

I moved to Las Vegas for two reasons: I had been told that healthwise the climate would be better for me, and it ended up being better for me and for Scruffy. He really has turned into a much more active dog. So I was just looking for an environment where I didn't have to shovel snow off the roof of my house and didn't have to live in rain all the time.

I came out here with the intent of teaching, and I came out here for the Clark County School District, and that has been a really good experience. I teach chemistry at Del Sol High School.

I feel like there's a lot of support for teachers in the district: from the news media, from programs to help teachers get supplies for their classrooms and from the people who come into the classrooms. I really like feeling appreciated. You don't always feel that when you teach in other states.

So my dreams of better health and an enjoyable career are coming true. The economy is shocking for me. The housing costs are just so out of my price range. I've been here a year, and as you know, the prices on houses have been outrageous.

I have a good social group here. I've got Katie, the lab, and Scruffy and Kilo and Romeo and Lambo, and their moms and dads.

Scruffy growls.

The dog is too close. Oh, goodness! You all right, little guy?