Just a weekend...

I think my weekends as a 10, 11, 12 year old kid growing up in New York were pretty laid back and casual. My favorite Saturday morning activity was curling up in one of our large green leather armchairs in Harry Potter's cloak of invisibility to listen to my favorite radio program which had the Teddy Bears Picnic as a theme song that went something like " if all the bears that ever there were....I was quite confident that I was alone on my chair and no one could penetrate this safe space. Then my father and I would go out for our Saturday date which meant lunch at Longchamps Restaurant and a movie. Or an exploring adventure in the City. That seemed to be about all we did.

But of course memory consistently fails you. By Friday, the three of us are pretty tired from work and school, and Miss Murray is also pretty tired from nothing but sleeping through the week. So as we are thinking about kicking back, she is looking forward to playing with us and going to Central Park. And on Saturday as the weatherpeople were beating the toms toms about yet another storm and endless rain, we set off for the Park. We have a ritual now where Arnie goes out in the street to hail a cab, Kate plays on her Rocket Stick which is a skate board with only two wheels, and I try to pretend that I am unconnected to these people and just happen to be walking by with the dog. So that when Arnie opens the cab door, I am in a good position to leap into the taxi almost before the cabbie can object.

The Park was heavy with rain from the previous 24 hours so that while the ground was muddy, all the trees all looked misty green/grey and there was a slight fog that made me think about Paris. All very romantic. Miss Murray knows where we're going now and positively bounds into the Park which represents amazing progress. Miss Murray arrived at LaGuardia from Oaklohoma via Houston just a year go and three trainers later she is really very well socialized now. Well she is well socialized at home with us. I actually thought this morning that a diagnosis of ADD would be right for her because at 5:30 am she is distracted from doing what dogs traditionally could and should do by the sound of a car door slamming, the whosh of bus brakes or the sight of someone walking along in the early morning gloom. But we love her and give her unlimited hugs. And she gives limitless love.