Reflections on 2012

I actually started this post a couple of days ago, thought I saved it, however can't seem to find where I would retrieve.  Here is take two.

After receiving a couple of Christmas letters from friends, I thought it about time I share with others some of my happenings of the past year.  I have had many thoughts about blogging during the year, yet the translation of thoughts into action seems to have malfunctioned along the way.

My initial thoughts about the year were drawing quite a few blanks.  I know I am certainly happy to pack 2012 away and look with anticipation of what 2013 will provide.  As with all our lives, we experience the breadth of what life has to offer and at times the depths can be quite intimidating.

Work this year has seen many changes.  Queensland Health has and still is experiencing some major cuts in staffing due to the change in State Government.  Unfortunately at work we are still  waiting for the impending drop of the axe to see what position we will lose.  I have been at Royal Brisbane & Womens Hospital as a Social Work Professional Leader in Mental Health now for over six years.  The longest I have ever stayed on one job!  I find the position challenging on many levels personally and professionally...we will see what will happen in 2013...will she stay or will she go??
 
I put my hand up at the end of last year (2011) to be on the management committee for the Queensland Branch of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).  It has been a busy year volunteering in this capacity.  I was given the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Portfolio to manage.  Some of my responsibilities with this portfolio is to assist in identifying and coordinating the CPD activities for the year, as well as sit on a national committee for CPD with the AASW.  I soon realized I had bitten off almost more than I could chew.  I am looking forward to trimming my involvement as a active measure to preserve my already tenuous hold on my sanity.

At church, we have a lay ministry and we all have the opportunity to hold various positions or callings as we name them, to assist with the functioning of the church.  My current calling is within the women's organization called the Relief Society.  My role is to work with the Relief Society President who leads and supports the women leaders in approximately 7 congregations within a geographical area called a Stake (Diocese).  I have specific responsibilities to support the women leaders in the various congregations to improve how we teach the women in church to strengthen themselves, their families and communities.

We organized an overnight Women's Retreat at Springbrook in March for approximately 150 women.  We had a great time spending time together...hiking to see the glow worms, participating in workshops, laughing and sharing good times.  There is so much strength in women who know their purpose and their faith. I love working in this area getting to know women from various cultural, family and economic circumstances united in their faith and commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is so renewing to my spirit to spend time with such inspiring women.

Todd & Austin Parrish

I feel like I have got the business end of my life out of the way and now I can share some of the exciting things that have happened.

My year started with seeing my nephew Todd Parrish marry his sweetheart Austin Rarere in the Brisbane Temple.  As an aunty, these are some of my most treasured experiences.  It was a rainy day, however there were no dampened spirits.  Todd and Austin currently are living in Toowoomba (my old stomping ground).  We look forward to them welcoming an addition to their family in the next couple of months...how exciting!

The Gaffney's

Jack Gordon Parrish

Miranda(niece) and Michael with their two boys (Aiden & Logan) made the big move down to Melbourne this year.  I miss having them around even though I wasn't the best at catching up.....  They have settled in well and are enjoying life in Melbourne. Aiden starts school this year...he is growing up so fast.

In June, we welcomed young Jack Gordon Parrish to the family.  He is the second son for Stephen and Chelsea.  He and his brother Logan are such cuties.

Proof!

The month of May bought an opportunity for me to be involved in a bit of pomp and ceremony.  I flew down to Melbourne for my masters graduation at Monash University.  It was a bit of strange experience in many ways.  I had done my masters externally (via correspondence), so I have never met any of my classmates, lecturers or even stepped on campus until I came to my graduation.  It was still a great time.  My brother Greg and his wife Lorraine came to the ceremony along with my friend Karen Baker who ran away with me to Melbourne for a few days.   Another dream come true...

This is before we started!

In June this year I had my arm twisted(not too hard) by some friends to join them at the Gold Coast Marathon.   Before you get really impressed we did the 5k walk, no record time however I do have a t-shirt and medal to prove it.  Maybe this year it will be the 5k run....or maybe not!

Frank Parrish, June Bate, Annie Parrish, Dick Bate

Celebrating life is sometimes in the remembering of the lives who have also gone on before us.  A midst all the happy things happening, our family also experienced some sad times with the passing of two of closest my uncles - Richard Bate and Russell Parrish.  Uncle Dick was diagnosed with a brain tumor early this year and experienced a rapid decline in his health in spite of surgery and treatment.   In the midst of this great sadness we felt the peace and strength of family and as we came together to share some wonderful times just prior to his passing and after his funeral.  This picture is so special as he had the opportunity on this day to come and see his grand-daughter Corrine and her husband Richie sealed forever together.  What such a sacred family time! He was 82 when he passed away in August.  Uncle Dick had a rich full life and his funeral was a fitting memorial to his life even down to the two fire engine escort to the grave side.  He served for over 40 years in the fire services.


A few weeks after Uncle Dick passed away, we heard the sad news of my Uncle Russell (Dad's younger brother) passing.  Uncle Russell too was a man who I loved.  He had a great sense of humor and always had a joke ready at hand.  From a young girl, I remember visiting his house at Perkins Street at Mt Gravatt and playing darts underneath the house.  He seemed in many way the opposite from my serious Dad, but when they got together it was wonderful to see how Uncle Russell bought out a different side to Dad.  The loss of two great men in such a short space of time helps you recognize and realize how important family are and what a blessing to know we will have the chance to reunite with our family in the next life.  What sweet reunions these will be!

Elder Parrish

With the ebb and flow of life we had the blessing as a family to see one of my nephew's Craig leave on a mission for the church to the Solomon Islands in September.  Craig has had this goal for all his life and he has prepared himself so well I know he will be a blessing to many people.  He follows in the footsteps of his three older brothers and his father who have all served missions for the church.  As a missionary, he will dedicate two years of his life to working with and sharing the gospel with the people of the Solomon Islands.  He will not be earning money, but will live off the money he has saved specifically for this purpose.   He will have limited contact with family and friends (email and letters with an occasional phone call to Mum) and a limited social life.   What he gets is the opportunity of a life time to immerse himself in serving others and sharing something which is means everything to him.

A lot of people keep asking me, "When & where is your next big trip?"  I have been a bit of stay at home this year.  I did  sneak off for a week with my friend Denise to do some camping down at Hat Head on the mid north coast of New South Wales.  I fell in love with the place, a spot of heaven on earth.  Beautiful beaches backing on to a national park.  I haven't seen BIG Kangaroos in the wild like that for years.  A need to go back!  I also spent a few days with Mum, Dad, Aunty June, Christine (cousin) and her daughter at the Bunya Mountains.  We went on a horse and cart ride then had some billie tea (herbal) and damper.  We checked out some local markets and spent time feeding all the beautiful parrots that flew on to our deck where we were staying. Some were cheeky enough to come inside when they thought we needed to feed them some more!!!

In October I got to catch up with a friend I hadn't seen since my BYU-Hawaii days (we won't mention how long ago...) It was great to see Alexis Sitiene again after all these years.  She had a quick overnight stop in Brisbane from Naru Island on her way home to Auckland.  We went out for dinner and shared some good times.

Christmas was quiet and I am very happy for this.  It has been an extremely stressful time over the last couple of months and I was happy not to get caught up in the season of madness and enjoy peace of Christmas.  Christmas eve was spent with good friends and family at my home which I really relish having people over to cook for them and bask in there company.  Christmas day was with my brother Malcolm and his family enjoying their new home especially their pool!

It's has almost worn me out going through 2012.  It has been a year of wonder, of hope, of sadness and of blessings unmeasured.  As I have shared the ups and downs of family and friends, it has made me appreciate the blessing of having an understanding of the purpose of life and how as we put our trust in Heavenly Father, He will give us the strength to do what we need to do and become the person He wants us to be.

2013....here I come ready or not!

ps. I think I managed to fill in the blanks!

Aging Is Not For Sissy's

I spent yesterday morning at the Emergency Department with my 80 year old father.  Unfortunately, his visit's to the Emergency Departments are happening more frequently than anyone would like, especially him. This time it is related to sciatica, which he has been experiencing for about three months.  However over the past week or two it has steadily got worse to the point where he can hardly walk and finds the only way he can get some relief is to  sit or lie down.   For anyone who knows my father,  being still is not something he does very well except when he is asleep.  


We struck it lucky at the Emergency Department and went straight in.  He was poked, prodded and asked "tell me when it hurts" while I twist you in a pretzel.  The verdict came back for a man of my father's age and with his medical conditions, basically there are no interventions to improve his situation other than pain management.  Meaning medication and physiotherapy.  My father accepted this and was grateful to have the clarity of knowing the reality of his situation, but the impact of this reality and how it will play out in the life of my parents is a different matter.  


The medication he was prescribed is the "may cause drowsiness, do not operate machinery or drive a vehicle" kind.  Which equates to no driving, which means a whole lot change. It is not only the not driving, it also my father making a psychological shift of what he can or can't do now that he has a crook back eg. no more moving fridges.  I'm not sure if that shift will come easily, if at all.


You see my parents live very full lives.  They do voluntary work at our church's temple three nights a week.  They enjoy the opportunity to contribute, help others and socially interact with  other people.  My mother is known for her baking...biscuits, cakes and pies, that she happily shares with family, friends and strangers.  My father has always been the go to man when something needed fixing, moving or a helping hand.  He loves the opportunity to help and serve others, it's just the way he is.  Having to rearranged their life will be interesting.


It is not only my parents lives that has got me thinking about aging, in my professional life I work with older people experiencing mental illness.  It seems lately we have had a spate of admissions where older people have attempted to take their lives due to simply the frustrations of aging.  Health is declining, friends and spouses dying and an ability to find enjoyment in life appears to diminish with some people's health and life can be pretty lonely.  It is not a pretty picture.  This and my parents experiences have lead me to come to the conclusion that aging is not for sissy's!


There is nothing we can do stop aging.  No cream, exercise program or gene pool will halt us aging.  Often we think about aging as some event on the horizon, still far enough away not to worry to much about it, yet we are all in the midst of the process.  Some are just closer to the horizon than others.  We observe others around us experiencing aging. "Mabel's looking older" without realizing Mabel is saying the same thing to Ralph about us.  We are a funny lot sometimes.  


So what's a girl to do?  Well, I think I will follow my parents example...live life to the fullest and best you can, serve others and enjoy the simple things in life.  My addition is that I hope to have the courage as I become aged to allow the support and love of others into my life to make up for what I no longer can do for myself.  Surprisingly, I am not afraid of death.  I believe it is a transition to the next life where I will meet up with family and friends (and hopefully some of our four legged friends, the ones with the waggily tails).  But until then, I hope I'm not a sissy and embrace the journey!

Disaster & despair leads to hope & humanity

Sitting in my home this afternoon seems a world away from where I have spent the last week.  As most people are aware, Queensland has experience in many ways unprecedented flooding to 3/4 of our State.  Lives have been lost and worlds shattered.  


On Tuesday 11th January, I received a call at work asking me to have a bag packed and ready to go at work the following day as a member of the Queensland Health team who were responding to the flood disasters.  As 20 of us gathered the next day at Princess Alexandra Hospital, we didn't even know where we were being deployed to or how long we would be away.  What we did know is that we were a group of mainly social workers who barely knew each other, but shared a willingness to reach out to assist those in need.  We departed naive to what lay ahead and for me personally this may have been to my advantage.  


We were deployed to the Toowoomba area, but subsequently spent the majority of our time in the Lockyer Valley region which had been devastated by flash flooding a couple of days before we arrived.  Flying up on the little fixed wing 8 seater plane, we had a birds eye view of the impact of the flood on South East Queensland.  Many areas had turned into inland seas.  It was incredible.  


The gravity of the floods unfolded to us over the next few days as we learnt first hand from survivors of the tragedies and miracles they experienced.  We saw the destructive pathway the water took as it carved its way through communities in our daily travels to support and assist all who had been effected.  Yet in the midst of this catastrophe, I was able to witness so much humanity and outpouring of love for our fellow beings.  I shed tears of sadness, along with tears of gratitude.  Strangers reaching out to strangers; neighbours helping neighbours.  The outpouring of generosity and community spirit was literally tangible.  I attended disaster management meetings and saw all levels of government pull together to achieve heroic outcomes of restoring power, roads, water and attend compassionately to common human needs.  Barriers which usually existed were swept away by the raging flood waters.


This whole experience has been a reminder of what is important.  I sit here in my home with all my possessions in tact, with easy access to all that I need.  The Lockyer Valley has touched my life and helped me put into perspective the year ahead.   I am humbled to have stood with my colleagues from Queensland Health, Red Cross, Dept of Communities etc and contribute in a small way to support others.   There is a long way to go for these communities to heal and recover, but they will and let us not forget them as we sit in the comfortableness of our lives.  

Living your dreams...ticking things off your list!

It's been nearly a month since I last blogged, not that nothing has been happening rather quite the opposite, so much that I don't quite know where to start, begin or relate.  Since I last wrote I have had contact from a few great friends who shared wonderful news of achieving some wonderful things in their lives and I feel so blessed to have their influence in my life.  Whether it is having the courage to set up an organisation to assist others; publishing in your field of expertise or stepping up to the opportunities presented to you and pursuing it to achieve your dreams, this year has been one for pivotal points in people's lives, including mine.  So many great examples in my life, it is hard not to be inspired...thanks to all the Angela's, Nona's, Susan's, Melissa's and Dorinda's in my life...you ladies rock!

My vantage point view

Anyway, I am still in New York and on my last week of the program...Where has all the time gone???  My days are numbered in the Big Apple and between you and me, I am not sorry.  It has been wonderful, but I am looking forward to returning to my old humdrum life in the burbs.  This old girl has struggled to keep up with the tempo of life here and a bit of normality will be wonderful (if there is such a thing!).


The past weekend I have been able to do some of the big ticks on my list of things to do while in NY.  It has been great!

Snoopy!

BYO Ladder

It started with Thanksgiving and there is no other way to experience Thanksgiving if you are in NY than to attend Macy's Parade.  How mad do you have to be? Mad enough to stand for 3 hours in 5 degrees (c) balancing on a fence outside the Dakota Hotel (the site where John Lennon was shot) so you can get a glimpse of the passing parade and get some photo's of the big balloons.  They estimate about 3.5 million people go to watch the parade.  I figure I was not alone in my madness!  Some, from years of habitual parade attending, have worked out ways to get a good view amongst the mass crowds and this may mean bringing your own ladder, or in extreme cases arriving 3 hours earlier (6 am) and camping out for your favourite spot.  We could tell when a big balloon was heading towards our spot, because of the cheering of the crowd.  It was a great atmosphere and a big tick off my list of things to do.  In the evening a group of us went had Thanksgiving dinner at a Latin restaurant.  Not the traditional turkey and cranberry, but very yummy.  
Continuing in on my weekend of ticking the list, on Friday morning Margaret (my sister) and I embarked on a road trip.  I believed I experienced another type of madness, particularly for someone who normally drives on the opposite side of the road and there had been forecasts of snow.  This whole journey was to puruse the biggest experience on my list of "to do's" while over here. 
Our first real stop in our adventurous weekend was at a place called Scaneateles.  Talk about a postcard stop, the town sits on one a lake of the same name.  As we entered this little township it started snowing and the magic of it all was they were having a Charles Dickens festival focused on "A Christmas Carol" with the characters dressed in period costume wondering the streets.  You could not have planned it better if you had tried.  ( I have been trying to upload some photo's but it is not working!!!)  It was a true winter snow scene and experience.  My  anxiety did increase however, about the possibility of driving in the snow, this ended up being unwarranted despite all the weather forcasts indicating otherwise.  A real blessing!  Waking up the next day the car was blanketed in snow then that was the end of the snow show.  A bit disappointing from one perspective, but ever so grateful from a driving point of view. 
The next day I was able to put the big tick on my list.  
Northwest of NYC is an area called the Finger Lakes district and nestled within the district is a small town called Palmyra.  To those of us who belong to the Mormon faith, Palmyra has a special significance in the history of our church, because it was here we believe Joseph Smith, the first prophet of our church was visited by God and Jesus Christ and received the guidance to eventually establish the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints several years later. (http://www.mormon.org/joseph-smith/ ) Joseph grew up on a farm at Palmyra with his family till he was married.  So for me, it was a spiritual pilgrimage to see and understand the circumstances of these events.  
It was so cold and windy the day I visited the historical sites, I think I was the only one silly enough to brave the weather and ended up with a personlised tour of the Smith farm for my efforts.  The Scared Grove where Joseph prayed was one of the most peaceful places I have been in my life.  As I pondered the circumstances surrounding the events of the restoration of the gospel, I gained a deeper appreciation of those who have sacraficed so much, to enable us today to experience the blessings of the gospel in our lives.  I do not believe Joseph Smith would have endured the persecution and eventual martydom if he did not know for a surety of the things which he experienced.  I too have felt this surety on some level, and their are certain things I cannot deny experiencing the influence of the spirit when I read the scriptures and know of their truthfulness.  Or feeling the influence and guidance of the Heavenly Father in my life.  I don't understand all things, but what I do know, I find great strength and peace in my life.

We had hoped to get up to Niagra Falls over the weekend as well, however the amount of driving we had already done, made too pooped to push on.  It was a wonderful weekend and thankful to my sister for coming with me even though our beliefs are different.  The scariest part of driving over the weekend was returning to New York City and having to navigate through city traffic with yellow cabs driving as wildly as they normally do.  I was happy to hand over the keys back to the rental company.  Amazingly for me, the car did not encounter any mishaps.  My track record for rental cars is horrific, I always seem to have a little bingle not necessarily invloving other cars, but scratching, knocking off a side mirror etc... It was a big sigh of relief  to make it through the weekend unscathed!

Diversity and Strength

One of the stand out thoughts rolling around in my head about my trip at the moment, is the recognition of the diversity and strength of peoples religious and spiritual beliefs.  I have a very strong set of beliefs, values and practices which are reflective of my spirituality.  I am not always a person who freely shares these with others, or do I think they are very evident to others, however I have a great admiration for people who live their life according to what they believe.   I will give a couple of examples.

 Yesterday, I came across two different instances of a Muslim man praying to Mecca on a street side.  In my four weeks here, I had not seen this, yet twice in one day seemed to be strange on one level.  One man knelt on a flattened cardboard box, the other on a beautiful prayer mat.  Both stopping their jobs as street vendors to observe and pray according to their beliefs.  What seems to make it even more striking is, this is being done in New York where there potentially is some strong anti-muslim perspectives.  I admired those men for living their beliefs on the busy streets of New York.

Another group of people that are more visible here are the Orthodox Jews.  I am fascinated to learn of all the different variations of the Jewish culture and religion.  One of the other social workers on the program is a practicing Jew. I have had a couple of conversations with her about her culture.  I have been particularly interested in their Shabbath (Sabbath) observance.  An hour before sun down their Shabbath begins on Friday afternoon.  From what I understand, during Shabbath they walk to where they need to go, don't use electricity or shop etc.  Even within the hospital system, it is accommodating to the beliefs and needs of the Jewish population.  In the hospital cafeteria Kosher food is served and their are Shabbath lifts which automatically will stop at every floor so the buttons do not have to be pressed.  Some may see these practices as extreme, however I'm not making comment on their practices, but on people willing to live their lives according to what they believe.  This practice is not often easily found.

LDS Conference Centre, Salt Lake City, Utah
 (it does fill up with Mormons)

My musings about these things actually started in Utah where I attended our church's semi-annual world wide conference.  Firstly, I had never been anywhere where there were so many Mormons gathered in one place and that could be particularly scary in itself, but I relished the opportunity to be gathered with others who share my beliefs.  There are 5 sessions of conference over Saturday and Sunday each lasting approximately 2 hours each.  At these sessions we hear from our church leaders including our Prophet (Thomas S. Monson) and of course the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  This is the first time I have attended conference in person.  We often get the sessions via satellite or video about a week later at home.  I find such spiritual strength and direction from participating conference.  Anyway I digress.

Protesters outside Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Utah

Besides enjoying the spiritual feast the thing that really took me by surprise were the people protesting outside the Conference Centre.  I am fully aware and respect people do not agree with our beliefs or religion, however it strikes me as rather peculiar for people who profess to be "Christians", feel they have a right to pull down and stomp on others beliefs.   These people were not quietly demonstrating, but very vocal and denigrating.  In spite of this, the majority of conference goers went quietly on by.  I thought the protesters could have found a better way to spend their weekends, rather than hollering at the Mormons.

I don't really mind what religious, non-religious, or belief system people individually follow, I believe the common thread should be the ability to treat each other with respect and dignity.  Our ability to peaceably walk with others is indicative of the peace we find from following our beliefs.  I do not think there is anything wrong with standing up for what you believe, however I do think there is a problem when we start attacking another's beliefs.

Well, now that I have got that off my chest, I will step down from my soapbox before it collapses under me and I break my neck!  Next time, I will try and not be so serious

Halloween 2010

Halloween, what can you say?  I lived four and half years in the US previously, but nothing from those years really stood out about halloween.  New Yorkers really seem to get into it, starting even the previous weekend with kids walking around in costumes in the parks.  I think there must of been halloween parties around.  Over the weekend it was not only the little kids who were into dressing up, but the big kids as well. Surprisingly though, the costumes did not really have a sort of "scarey halloween" theme to them.  Many were pretty normal...Cat women, Trekkies, Cookie Monster, plenty of Harry Potters etc and that's even the adults.  In some ways at home, Halloween seems to reflect the more a blood dripping ghoully side of it.  Any way, I still think it is a weird holiday. 

Decorations

There was a big halloween parade on at Greenwich Village, but I was all over it, so couldn't be bothered going, I am sure there would of been a lot of interesting sights down there. It is the start of the holiday season over here.  The next big celebrations will be Thanksgiving.

Picking the pumpkin!

Award winning carving.

One of the things which has stuck out this time to me is the pumpkins. I am amazed at the pumpkins  and it seemed to go to peoples head.  I heard  Dunkin Donuts advertise pumpkin flavoured coffee and donuts.  Donuts I can understand, a bit like Lady Flo's pumpkins scones (for Queenslanders), but coffee????  I should of  been on the look out for pumpkin flavoured hot chocolate! There was even some pumpkin cheesecake, but I had to control myself and not taste it.  The only sweet way I like pumpkin is a dessert my mother makes  she calls Gramma Pie.  Yummy!!!

Pumpkins!

I didn't see to many carved pumpkins around the place, but I went to a farmers market at Union Square in town on Saturday and saw some great ones.  There are pumpkins of all different sizes and shapes.  Here are some of the photo's.  I have bought some pumpkin since being here which I thought was Jap pumpkin, to mash and eat...not the same, very different.  

Trunk: trick or treating

I went to a Halloween Party last night at Church with some friends I knew from Brisbane, Kerry and Tuata Angus.  They live in Scarsdale one the suburbs of New York and it was great to get out beyond the city.  I caught a train up which was an adventure in itself.  The trains lines are not part of the subway system, so I had to transfer from a subway to a train station.  I thought the stations would be in the same place. Wrong!  I came out on to the street from the subway, a very disorientating experience if any of you have done it, particularly when the area is unfamiliar.  Surfacing from the subway, I found myself in the middle of a Harlem area.  Ok for during the day, but still a bit un-nerving.  I found the station however, then had to figure out which train I needed to catch.  Just when I thought I had mastered  getting around New York via public transport, I find I don't really know very much at all!  To make a long story short, I eventually caught the right train, but when we started speeding past all these stations I realised I was on a express train.  Lucky for me the next stop was only two stations on from where I had to be, so I caught another one back making sure it wasn't and express back to New York City!

A Mummies boy!

Halloween Princess

 The party was a Chillie cook off and then a trunk trick or treating.  Instead of walking from house to house, the kids go from car to car in the Chapel carpark.   People open the trunks of their cars (car boots to us Aussies) and the kids make their way along trick or treating.  I thought this was a pretty good and safe way of doing it.  Although, I wouldn't liked to have been in primary or nursery on Sunday with all the kids hyped on sugar! The church members got really into dressing up.  It was a fun activity and the Chillie was great. 

I'm not sure how many of you keep up my waffling, but you will have to excuse my bad english and missing words.  I have a bad habit of doing this, I try fix it up before sending however don't catch all my mistakes.  I have also yet to work out the fine art of setting up the pictures and text so they match up, but anyway not bad I think for a MS!  

Take care and hope you had a Happy Halloween!

Doggies and the Big Apple

Sign found on nearly every tree!

I know I have been a bit slack with my posts.  There is so much to let you know about and I keep getting more behind each day.  I thought I would take a thematic approach to a couple of blogs to give you a slice of New York life.

As most of you are aware I am avid dog lover and at one stage dreamed of being a Vet. It is a dream I haven't entirely let go of yet! Sorry all you cat lovers, I'd rather have a soppy dog than a feline.

From the first day I arrived in New York, I was amazed at the number of dogs that are here.  No matter what time of day or night, people are walking their dogs.  And where do people live...in apartments.  How do keep a dog in an apartment????  I feel so sorry for them (the dogs) and from my casual observation I think it has caused some serious neurological damage to these dogs.  I think if you were to do a study on these dogs, I believe you would find that they suffer with depression or at the least confined space syndrome (a newly recognised disorder).  Who heard of a dog not being able to run around a back yard; roll in the grass(and whatever else it finds);  there is no healthy butt sniffing or excited bark talk!

The pet store where you can find more
than you ever imagined for your dog!

It seems to have a dog is the "in" accessary, particularly French or Italian Bulldogs.  Talking about accessaries, I am floored at the doggie stores stocked with toys, clothing, bags and other contraptions for the well heeled dog.  I will have to try and take a picture of a dog carry bag which people use.  You can get one with handles or on wheels like a suitcase, so pooch can be carried wherever he needs to go.  If this is not up to scratch, I kid you not I have seen it, dogs get pushed around in prams.  This was in Central Park, where eccentricity is at its peak! Last Saturday night I even saw a cat being taken for a walk on top of a pram.  I tried to take a photo, but I was on a bus and couldn't get close enough.  I am not sure if there was a child or a dog in the pram!!! Only in New York!

Another doggy note, is there seems to be very few places where dogs are not permitted.  I have been in all sorts of stores and owners bring their dogs along...Barns & Nobles (books), grocery stores, cafes and even on the plane!

You might not be able to see this too clear, but a couple of well
coiffured dogs and the door man!

Outside of Saks 5th Ave

Unfortunately, I have not yet spied a spotty dog.  I am sure I will eventually come across one.

Enjoying a $2 NY hot dog!

 So, this is a town who loves their dogs and accommodates them in every conceivable way.  There is a community service who will even assist feeding dogs or animals when people get hospitalised.

Being here has changed my mind about getting a dog at home.  I have been reluctant in considering having a dog at my place because I only have a small courtyard, however according to NY standards I have plenty of room for a couple of Great Danes or Mastiffs.

Well until I find some more doggy tales, I will let you chew over the life of man's best friend in the big apple!