hanging at the dog park always makes me smile!

anchorage is quite lucky as we have 6 dog parks in the city. that is a city of less than 300,000 people. i know much larger communities with no dog parks at all. university lake is a favorite. the one i walked yesterday is also an official off leash park. i've gone to u-lake since moving here in 2001. subsequently, i know alot of the old regulars that go there and indeed i guess that makes me an old regular. i caught the right time today and ran into several of my favorites. i remember a friend happened upon me one day out there and was shocked by how many people i knew. dog people are generally cool. rio loves it as she gets loads of attention and lots of treats. feeling less melancholy today. still sleepy and coughing alot but overall better each day. took a little nap this afternoon after i got back from the walk.
above is a moose chilling at the dog park. she was off trail enough for me to pass her twice. when i cruised past a second time a black lab was racing towards her. her owners were aware but made no attempts to stop the dog. i heard them saying something like, there he goes again. the dog got within 10 feet of the moose and barked. that poor moose was trying to move, but that deep snow is a bitch for those big beasts to cope with. when i got to the owners i asked if it was thier dog barking at the moose. they said "yes", i mentioned they might want to call the dog off the moose and thier response was, "it wouldn't do any good anyway". at which i stated, then you should have put the dog on a leash before getting anywhere near the moose. i hate to be the old crank at the park, but people are such idiots. it's not okay for your dog to harrass the moose. it's a finable offense, though there isn't anyone around to fine people most of the time. the worst part of it though is that an agitated moose is a danger to all who come after. hate that people these days feel so entitled and above all laws. so other than this irritation the dog park was relaxing and good for me mentally. i was amongst my peers. nice people who like dogs.the sun was in hiding much of the day but patches of blue sky did appear from time to time. tonight i settled in and watched the westminster kennel clubs dog show. the labs and goldens have never won and always seem to be overlooked which is a bummer. the mastiffs and big dogs in general are also overlooked. the final winner was a scottish deerhound so i was happy that at least a large dog won finally! it's about time. i was surprised that a cocker hasn't won since 1940. they have added a cane corso, a type of mastiff. no fila yet. perhaps one day. the portuguese water dog won in the working dog category. they don't do anything for me. i love the spinone's. it's just fun seeing all the different dogs. i briefly thought about watching the grammies, but i get sick of all the hollywood crowd and thier need for all these awards ceremonies. ego stroking in music and acting is out of control. dogs, kids and musicians all do "acting" now so it is an easily trainable job. not that i don't think there are actually some good actors out there, just that it seems more of a popularity thing than an award for actual talent. as for music, there are some great musicians out there as well, but there is also many who are not really talented. a studio can make nearly anyone come off well on a cd or in a video. so much of that is getting lost as well and real talent isn't always a requirement for stardom. the dogs are just cuter!