Thank you everyone for the support! I've passed along your thanks to my brother, who was very appreciative of the gratefulness. My brother actually lives in Europe, so I'm afraid he can't help out all that often at the new place. But I did encourage him to go commune with nature for some peace and quiet. He seemed to like the idea. Vilkas is a handful already! He's incredibly intelligent though and a fast learner. I'm excited to see how him and I will grow together. I'm starting on his training this week, and if all goes well he'll start to learn how to track by the end of June. As soon as the lawn is mowed and everything is trimmed up I'll throw some pictures up here! The spring flush was nothing this year, since not much has been in the ground long enough to so much of anything. It's all growing happily though so I can't complain! Josh

It is certainly feasible to make modifications to accommodate limitations. For example, Matthew Stanford is a fairly well-known yoga teacher who has been in a wheelchair since he was a teenager. There are plenty of things that you can do sitting in a chair or standing. From the pelvis upwards, a seated spinal twist is very similar whether you're seated on the floor with your legs twisted into pretzels or are seated on a firm chair with your feet flat on the floor. Even without the legs, there are physical benefits and plenty to learn. I taught yoga for many years. Frankly, everyone has limitations or one sort or another. A basic idea in yogic philosophy is that each of us has to start where we are now - physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc. Finding modifications for physical challenges is a piece of cake compared to getting a student who approaches everything as a competition to be addressed through brute force to see that "doing less" works better. If you can't find a yoga teacher who is willing to work with limited mobility, try to find a Fendenkrais teacher. The movements are slow and require attentiveness. They dovetail nicely with the way I preferred to teach yoga, so I often used them to make certain yoga postures more accessible.

Yup, I have tentatively chosen cork now that I have 5 bad discs. But I also recommend strength-based therapy and hip mobility work to actually fix the bad back and knees. I can stand on tile now with no problems. (But I won't use it because I HATE GROUT WITH A PASSION.)

You are like a lot of people shopping for hardwood. I was the district mgr for Bruce Hardwood. You are getting bad advice. Your reasons for wanting a solid is based on inaccurate info. That was what I meant. The first link provided to you is an out of state hardwood company. They of course will sell you anything you order but won't stand behind it. At least the other company is Florida based. Its just important for you to understand the difference and all engineered is not the same. Suggest you search this forum for Advice from a Hardwood rep for those shopping. I wrote that several yrs ago. You need to get better information. There are valid reasons for wanting a solid but you should also understand why your local dealers are advising against it. Sorry if I sounded harsh.