The Greatest (dog) Show On Earth !

the sign read: ANNUAL VNAA DOG SHOW, 7:00 P.M.
(or so i thought.)

i had no idea what VNAA meant, but a dog show at vickery towers? woo doggies! that would just be too much corny fun to miss. there are probably a dozen residents with dogs. there's even one up on mom's floor.
i went upstairs and was surprised to learn no one had heard about the dog show. not even the aides. that just seemed wrong to me.
so, i went into action mode.

downstairs they told me it was probably too late for the couple on the 4th floor to register, and, in any case, that was all handled by the "vnaa people."

i thought, bullshit and came back at 5:30 to wait for these alleged vnaa people to come set up their stinkin' dog show.
by 6:00 there were several residents sitting on the porch with me. they were all, "what a great place to watch from." and they were right. comfy chairs, elevated porch, great view of the courtyard.

the VNAA (actually the VPNA) turned out to be the neighborhood association. the lady i spoke with, Christine, assured me there was no such thing as registration.

"you mean just anybody and their dog could just show up?"

"yup."

so i told one of the old ladies on the porch to save my seat for Mary Anne and rushed upstairs to get her and to see if i could get one of the aides to bring Jim and Nancy and their dog down...



(this is them in the photo. and there's a funny story about Jim near the bottom of this post.)








...by 7:00 the courtyard was full of real live neighborhood human beans, a few VT residents and lots of dogs. there were also hot dogs on a grill, tables full of food and coolers full of soft drinks. some of the neighborhood people were practically falling over themselves fixing plates of food and getting drinks for the geezers.

it was awesome.

just as i said to a porchmate, "i'll betcha a dollar-three-eighty they don't bring jim and nancy down," one of the aides appeared in the courtyard with half a dozen alzheimer residents. and one tiny dog in tow.

by my count, only 2 other old folks showed up with their dogs, but the other dozen or so who did come all sat around a big table pigging out on picnic fare and having a blast. they had all just had dinner 30 minutes before so we were kinda surprised at that.
(in fact, i didn't really lose that dollar i mentioned earlier. when they first started up the grill, my betting partner said, "they're gonna try to sell food!?! but we all just ate!" and i bet her a dollar the picnic atmosphere would prevail. so we're even.)

the whole affair was pretty cool. it was a perfect location for the neighbors to have their get together and the interaction between them and the VT folks was something i hope to see more of. maybe we should organize a wheelchair race and invite them back.

(if my dad was still alive, and living there, i can guarantee that and more would already be in the works. maybe *walker dancing* or a *cane fashion show.* something, for sure. as mom always says, "if joe lived here he'd be organizing something for all these people to do.")

the view from the porch before things were in full swing.


the blessing of the dogs. i kid you not...


that's abbey. mom used to live across the hall from her before mom got busted for wandering around without a clue. or should i say, "without a leash."


and this is about as organized as the dog show ever got. hahahahaha. (sometimes i exaggerate. there was an official *show* at some point.)


the porch crew...


i saved the best picture for last. check out this coif on the right! and if you click on the picture to enlarge it, that's jeane's (in aqua) standard, full-time expression. i never call her by her name. i just call her "smiley."