Come from the land of ice and rain and snow, as the rain song remains the same, a celebration day for Black Dog.

Before the recent cold and rain, every dog was having his day. It was balmy for a time, and Buffy and Barfie were being walked all around the Hudson downtown, especially up and down the west side of Second Street.
On the tiled concrete porch between the different doors of Seasons Gallery, the tan-all-over Shop Dog — as he was described by one of the art studio’s mainstays — was stretched out in his usual place, doggy dish sitting just in front of his nose. Two women came walking by, just seconds after I had, and said to the pooch, oh you are so cute … You knew petting was going to ensue. Doggy got up on his haunches.

(As they praised the pooch streetside, a semi-beer-truck ambled by, with a pair of other women, Two Chicks I think they were called, drawn on the side, heads and shoulders shown. Facial resemblance, as all four are about the same age? The ad for this brew has long been up at Dick’s Bar and Grill, as it appears to have parlayed on the success of the Two Gingers brand ad that was up and showcasing the same style, at The Smilin’ Moose. Both ad signs were placed in about the same place in the respective bathrooms.)
Three dogs up the three blocks, just doors down from the Vine Street stoplights, I saw my friend I’ll call Mr. G walking his dog. I noticed the bigger-than-puppy first, since he was pulling ahead further and further in approach of me, and then it saw that gee, it was inded Mr. G.
The same usual greeting to me, Hello Mr. Winter, and then I joked that at least it wasn’t a cat at the end of his tether. Or God forbid, a gerbil as the Freak on the Leash. How does one tether a gerbil, and maybe find that its small neck slips out of the collar, and the gerbil goes on the lamb. I asked Mr. G about that. He said, what about a herd of gerbils? I responded, it might then be good if they all escaped, such as to the riverside park a couple of blocks away.
And across from Season’s Gallery, kitty-corner, there has been a big white sign with black letters that has not remained the same, being taken up and down over the course of a few weeks. It had been planted with two big pots of flowers on the end of a fence closest to the main drag, also at the end, north-side, of a parking lot.
It is or was, you are or were … It said, specifically, “You R Awesome.” Said with You not U used. So, R U Experienced, with signage?
It appeared that someone really missed someone else, and was honoring them with this as a remembrance. As the cold weather kicked in, to start off this month, the dozens of small and multi-colored blooms were yes, fading a bit in their color, but still more vibrant then most of our flora, as if meant to be, a second type of sign.
Then, in short order, the pots and their slowly browning buds were taken away, and then the sign too, but days later the placard was put up again. We do not know its future.
Was part of the reason, that the fence is on the edge of private property? It is really bent sideways just a few feet to the east, I noticed just recently.
I just hope that there is a good resolution, for all involved.

The now, the next day, there are more signs, some updates and some new. And telling more of their stories more dog(s), plural at one of the times.
First, the “awesome” sign, it has been taken down once again. Apparently, whoever is removing it, is keeping it stowed, in their garage for possible later use.
Halfway up the way, there was a sign set on top of … something it was selling. This space of sidewalk seems to be prone for this type of thing. It was a high(er) stool in stance, or you could call it a chair. But not available, like so many a natty couch, for free although bigger, (but this stool, and its haunches, or by any other name, was in good shape.) No one had nicked its knee-high legs with their knees while they were indulging in a nightcap with a Bud named Miller.
But the sign spelled out the terms, and was clear on them: $27.95. Firm. And throw in a medium-size red, as in little red riding hood, basket that held the monetary demand on a small slip of paper. In the nextdoor venue, Agave Kitchen, the marquee said on consecutive days, Buffalo Chicken Mac (no Manwhich) and Cheese. Much like last month when its sign said, for two days running, “Octagon House vintage sale starts today. ” Think about that for a moment.
Flipside across the block, a big building in the way, were a — key number here — seven signs that said boldly Sustain Hudson, a remnant that recurs from the cusp of when street reconstruction created across-the-city chaotic effects on commerce, were lain about a lawn with concrete corners. All as another sign outside an antiques shop said, simply, We Love Hudson So Mush. Doggie theme reintroduced, in two ways.
As is the sight of two canines being led down that same street, in the same place, as if on a single leash. I remember noticing that one had big spots, or should I say blotches, of a bit of black-and-white. One block to the south, there walked a single Golden Retriever, as that kind of dog always gains note. (As per the black-and-white, the longtime owner of a dog named Spots is celebrating her birthday.)
So now more on celebrations, as the Hudson downtown has been a ghost-town on rare occasions but at a more frequently seen level of traffic, quite busy, as Halloween awaits. I also see so such much depends on the weather, and especially quite early in their seasons and post-seasons, the occurence of pro sports, football and baseball. Most notable was a recent mid-week night at Dick’s, where it was a renewed all-go as far as numbers. “It’s been this way all night long,” said a bouncer-turned-bartender.
And ah, its soon Halloween. The first frights were put out there just before the turn of the month. “We put all kinds of stuff up last night,” said a Hudson Tap bartender right as October arrived. Part of that is what I’ll call the Backway Haunted Up-High Hall of Halloween, marked by many ghosts formed by hundreds or thousands of strings of white.
Back where I saw the Golden Retriever, I also spied a trio of people briefly hanging out before entering Mallory’s. One said hi, but what caught my eye was her friend, dressed in black pants, typical, but adding dozens of white skulls the size of again, a baseball. Her sweatshirt was more flashy with slashes of red streaks creating a creature, if you let your mind go, as I thus invoke Slayer.
I poised the question, and she agreed, is it ever too soon to bring Halloween into the mix?

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