20160430 (best)

Good boy. You really add to the neighborhood.

Meeting people while walking

Loki easily ranks as one of

The best activities of my life in

This wonderful place. This morning

We had to cross West 32nd to 

Pass around the excavation at

Vine Court where the city is 

Enlarging the sewer connection

In anticipation of increased 

Service for the many new

Apartments soon to be built.

Traffic had been maintained,

But the narrowed neck allowed 

Only one car at a time. We 

Were almost across when an

Old Toyota Corolla pulled up

And the window rolled down

To reveal WM (whom I think

Of as the beloved grandfather

Of the neighborhood. He offered 

His hand in greeting and we 

Backed up a bit to let cars

And trucks pass by. I asked 

Of his family (his wife suffers

Periodically from worsening

Dementia) but he assured me

All was well with them. He

Began informing me of two

Elderly (upper eighties) brothers

Who have used their properties

To house numerous people

Struggling to recover from 

Addictions but because of the

Advancing debilities of age

Had been considering passing

The practice to one of their

Sons. Sadly the son in question

Recently tumbled down a 

Stairway and has been rendered

Paraplegic. Caring for him will

Be a massive financial cost. As

We were talking the driver of an 

SUV stops opposite us to talk

To my friend about a matter 

Involving care for neighbors.

WM tells me, “He’s with the 

Metanoia Project [a group

In the near west side devoted

To helping homeless afflicted].”

Then kind of out of the blue he

Tells me, after I tell him I’m

OK, “You know we love you

And you mean a lot to us.”

On that note we part. When we

Get to the last of the very chi-chi

Townhouses on Clinton I notice

A young man trenching on the 

East side of the building as if 

To waterproof the outside

Of the basement wall. I talk to

Him about the irony of having to

Repair so new a construction

When his boxer, about ninety

Pounds worth of very strong

Doggy, ambles over to us with

A squeeze toy in his mouth. “He’s

Always looking to play.” I take 

The toy and hurl it not very far

But Junior takes after it, snags

It on the first bounce, and quickly 

Returns for more. “He was a 

Helper dog for a blind lady but

After seven years they retired 

Him and I got him.” After a few 

More tosses, I tell Loki, who 

Lacks a “fetch” gene, “Look,

I throw the ball and you catch it.”

He sits waiting for us to move

On. I wish the landscaper “The 

Best,” rub the Boxer’s neck

And tell him as we wander off, 

“Good boy, we love you. You

Really add to the neighborhood.”

c. J.S.Manista, 2016