You can guess the next plot point. After shopping I cut through the Hotel Pennsylvania lobby as I often do to go to a subway entrance. Usually in midday it is a quiet place but it was bustling. Why? I knew the moment I saw a gorgeous big white dog that I think wa a St. Bernard. Dog Show Week. Then I became aware that amongst the many people were many dogs, no two alike, all beautifully behaved, beautifully groomed, and being photographed by many people with complicated cameras. Of course, I had not even my tiny uncomplicated camera.
So nothing to do but wander around, ask owners, "what kind is that?" and say, "beautiful!' -- which was always true. A woman in the middle off the lobby, taking me for a "dog person," gave me a fat copy of the official booklet of the show and I have scanned pictures from it, which are better, possibly -- probably -- than I would have taken. On the right is a Weimaraner names Norbu -- a Sherpa name which seems a little odd for a dog of German background. In the center is a whippet which had no name attached. It undoubtedly looks much like the prize-winner whippett that escaped its cage at JFK before flying home last year and may still be alive and free somewhere in Queens -- the police get siting calls every so often. And the lovely standard poodle on the left is the cover girl of the booklet, Ch. Brighton Minimoto. I don't know why European dog breeds are given Asian names ... I know very little about the world of pure bred dogs. The booklet has lots of information so I may know more after I look through it more thoroughly.
This story has two morals: 1. take the camera! [I'd have loved to show you-all that big white dog that first caught my eye] and 2. New York is a city full of wonders, surprises and delights. Even a mundane trip to the post office may offer up something unexpected and beautiful.
