Doggone

Petey has been gone for almost a year now. It has been a big adjustment to life without a dog, particulary with the departure of as big a personality as his. But the freedom is nice and the memories are sweet.

I think it is worth noting that Petey was our biggest asset in being accepted as new neighbors in Harlem. More prople knew him by name than knew us. Walking him in the early morning, afternoon or at bedtime was an occasion to say hello, catch up on what was happening, and make new friends. But I don't miss it in winter weather.

We still have his ashes in a box in the house. Maybe soon we will find the right place to scatter them.

Some Kind of a War

Here at the South end of Lenox Avenue we are in the middle of some kind of war. Gunshots rang out again tonight just after 8 p.m. on 114th street. A young man shot in the back was still breathing when the ambulance tokk him away. Sunday at 2 p.m. we had 2 bystanders wounded. A few weeks ago a man was assassinated on the corner at 113th.

What do we have to do to stop this? How do we start?