Characters/Caricatures

There is an odd[?] gentleman and his mean[?] dog at our dog run. He is there everytime I've taken Stewart and is there almost everytime Greg takes him. When I first heard about the man, Greg started the conversation with, "My arm is sore right here where this Indian guy's dog bit me."

Sounds like the begining of a bad joke.

But sure enough, upon my first encounter with the 'Indian guy'...he had long dark hair, with feathers in it...lots of turquoise jewelry...and a mean dog named after Bruce Springsteen. I'm from Texas and I haven't seen anyone dressed like this since I saw a musical about Plymouth Rock. At Six Flags.

Apparently, Stewart is Bruce's type as we can't keep him off his back. And when we reach for Mr. Springsteen's collar, he barks and bites. He must not be 'out' yet. Stewart is, but Bruce is not his type.

Of course, Bruce is 'just playing'.

Of course.

Indio [I swear this is his name.] tells us this everytime Brucie goes for a limb.

Indio is too busy chatting up the other dog owners, taking pictures with his cell phone and mopping up his freshly spilled beer so the dogs don't lick it up. [For reals.]

Then there is the sweet little old lady who walked by us the other night...just a little purse on her shoulder. She looked a bit off[?] and it kind of[?] made sense when she asked for change. She thanked us, walked a few feet forward while looking down at the change in her palm. She turned back to Greg, held out the 'foreign penny' and told him it was of 'no use' to her. Beggars can be choosers.

Our neighbor - just out of college - vibrant, young, spunky, full of aerobic life - teaches voice lessons for his living. We're not positive it is him, but someone sings "Sandy" at the top of his lungs morning, noon and night...complete with the last line leading into the song: "You can't just walk out of a drive in!"....over and over and over and over and over again.

The same way every time.

Poorly.

It is so ironic, it is adorable and I hope he never reads this. Or that he does and it wasn't him.

Greg is about to go out of town for five weeks for a gig in Vermont and while I am so excited and proud for him, us and everything getting a gig like this signifies...I am only now coming to the realization that I will be dealing with the New York Cityness of my life on my own.

I welcome it and I am a little afraid. I'm not necessarily a Bruce Springsteen fan and I don't like Coors Lite.