Wimsey's Blog:Diary of a Manhattan Bloodhound #186

Entry #186
October 1, 2010

Hello everyone, it’s me Wimsey coming to you from the waterlogged streets of Manhattan’s Upper West Side where tropical storm Nicole has washed out my walks and put much desirable sniffing real estate underwater. But there is no cloud without a silver lining and the inclement weather has enabled my human Maria and her friend Elizabeth to break out their couture rain wear courtesy of LL Bean (hint: the stuff looks a lot better on the folks at the Weather Channel-- perhaps that is because the people on TV are actually smiling).

But it is not only my humans who get to display their wet weather finery—I think I look quite dashing in my red raincoat and the color exactly matches the color of the flags that the parks department uses to signal that fields are closed due to dangerous moisture. My rain coat too signals dangerous conditions due to excessive moisture, as being smelly, muddy and wet frequently brings out a generous impulse to share the experience by sitting in my humans’ laps.

Anyway Happy October. And in October my human’s thoughts lightly turn to thoughts of beer in honor of the Oktoberfest. And this October is even more special because our friend Paul has finally launched Baying Hound Aleworks (www.baying-hound.com) and I have been channeling my inner Don Draper to come up with a promotional campaign for him. Of course all my adverts feature me and I am sure customers will want to know if I come with the beer. (Or perhaps to make sure that I don’t come with the beer). There is nothing quite as splendid as drinking a finely crafted brew with a finely crafted Hound dipping his finely crafted nose into the glass—the pleasure of the experience is one to which my humans can readily attest.

But in spite of the recent weather Sunday remained dry and I achieved a masterstroke of strategy in delaying our exit from the park when I decided that it was imperative for me to individually greet a large group of visitors. The ladies could hardly pull me away without looking incorrigibly Cruella Devil-ish—and then I found it equally imperative to lie down and observe their activities, much to everyone’s amusement except my humans. I have more ways to delay leaving the park than my humans have neurons.

And as I mentioned last week, a big change in computers is in the works—PC to Macs. The Apple stuff has arrived and I don’t yet know about the quality of the computers but I was definitely impressed with the quality and variety of the delicious packing materials. So owing to all the computer stuff going on and my time consuming supervisory activities, this week’s post will mostly consist of my week in photos. If a picture is worth a thousand words, mine must be worth at least the entire works of William Shakespeare with a few interminable Latin histories thrown in.



Here I am on scenic Riverside Drive delaying the end of my afternoon walk by climbing on a bench and refusing to move.

Here I am down by the Hudson River marina after a successful and satistying water bottle hunt. It being too wet to effectively dispatch my prey, I was forced to carry it to Elizabeth's apartment where it ultimately met its end in the recylables bin.

This is me attentively awaiting the turkey that follows any taking of my picture. Even when complete strangers take my picture I demand to be paid. It's in my contract.

This is me in Central Park, in better weather, slowing down homeward progress by climbing onto a bench and as you can see awaiting payment. Fifth Avenue is in the background.

I have just been interrupted from some impromptu gardening involving that tree in the background. Double payment is expected under these circumstances.

I found this very appealing rock formation in Central Park and before I could climb up it and contemplate jumping off (a comtemplation which leads to much squealing amongst my humans--I never know whether they fear for my safety or the vet bills) it was decided to immortalize the moment before the ascent.

This is me in front of the Harlem Meer at the very apex of Central Park's 858 acres (otherwise known as my back yard). Notice the fowl swimming in the background--the Meer has ducks, geese and swans with whom I am always trying to get better acquainted, much to the detriment of my humans' shoulders.

It also has a nearby stand selling knishes (and a profoundly puzzling sign advertising "Broccoli, Spinach, Kasha and Sweet Potato--not exactly what you'd think of on a hot summer's day) and this Sunday it was determined that as soon as the weather gets cooler the ladies will see if I will eat one (we Wimseys being quite gourmet-ish in our culinary proclivities.). Stay tuned.




Another shot of me looking looking impossibly handsome at the northern end of the Meer. I have always found the juxtoposition of Central Park's rural features and the City's adjacent urban architecture (and its smells)
to be one of its most delightful features.

Right at the beginning of Sunday's walk I found this amazing stick on the street that just had to be chewed. The ladies had to stand around and wait for this feat to be accomplished whilst passersby stopped to admire my handiwork.








Well I think that's it for this week. Hopefully next week our Apple migration will be complete. I think the silver veneer of the laptop just screams for some drool art.

Until next time.

Wimsey, bratty, annoying, time consuming, expensive, but oh so worth it