we’re home!
and resting comfortably. 
the wildlife in the apartment isn’t quite the same as in the woods upstate, but it also doesn’t move around when you’re trying photograph it.
♥
“True humility is contentment.”
~ Henri Frederic Amiel
except for the fact that my last apartment was less than 400 square feet, i really liked it. it was on the first floor, it was quiet and best of all it had a back yard. the building had 20 units and 24 people lived in the 73rd street apartment house.
as sweet as it was, what you will see below was pretty much the entire floor space in the living room
this was my office in it’s entirety (in living room on opposite the wall with door in picture above)
and the bedroom was so small, this was all i could get in a photograph:
the bed was solidly tucked in to 3 of the bedroom walls with just enough standing room to – well, stand. ivan would take a running leap in from the kitchen to get into the bed at night.
the building was over 100 years old and people were much smaller back then. if you stood in the middle of the hallway and raised your elbows to the sides, each elbow would easily reach the walls.
living on the first floor gives you a kind of freedom to come and go a lot easier and quicker than having to do the stairs; especially when there are 5 flights of them (see 5th floor living).
now i live in a 600 square foot studio in a building with 137 apartments, approximately 250 people and 2 elevators and i’ve come to find out that elevators are over rated. last night for example, ivan had to go out and he needed to go out quickly. he had been suffering from an upset stomach for the last couple of days and although i had been taking him out every 2 hours, apparently it wasn’t enough. as we waited for the elevator ivan held his tail tight between his legs and looked at me with wide eyes telling me he was trying as hard as he could to wait for the elevator. he seemed to be panic stricken as i assured him the elevator was on it’s way and would be here any second. finally that second arrived. the elevator doors opened, we jumped in, i pressed the lobby button and the doors closed.
the whole process took at least 5 minutes and ivan just didn’t have that kind of time. i will spare you the details.
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.”
~ Dalai Lama
Posted in humor, New York, ny city life, nyc, thoughts
Tagged city living, dog, east side luxury building, elevator, manhattan, NYC
1. wake up way too early (thank you, ivan).
2. walk dog, meditate, shower, check e-mails, straighten apartment, walk dog again.
3. hear very loud explosions directly below my windows on 1st avenue.
4. look out window and see only thick clouds of heavy smoke, preventing view of buildings directly across the street.
5. panic (naturally)
6. grab camera, get ivan, bang on all doors alerting everyone on the 12th floor and begin the descent down as fast as possible carrying 70 lb dog and my camera.
7. walk traumatized dog 1/2 way down smoke filled block before noticing angry officer screaming at me to get inside.
8. spend the next 2 hours sneaking outside for some pictures, getting yelled at and waiting in the lobby with many neighbors – waiting for the elevator to be turned back on.
9. persuade building porter to let me take elevator by convincing him of my impending death if
a.) i have to carry ivan up 12 flights or
b.) i have to stand in the lobby one more second.
10. watch cops, firemen and con ed peeps from 12th floor and wonder if i am actually safer up stairs or in lobby should the building blow.
11. it is now around 4:30 and beginning to get dark outside. all building electricity goes out. stairwells & hallways are so dark i could not see anything other than pure blackness.
12. light many candles & check on elderly neighbor with emphysema to see if he has candles and a back up generator for his oxygen tank. he’s ok for now.
13. wait.
14. wait some more
15. feed ivan his dinner & continue waiting.
16. notice ivan by door signaling strong desire to go out.
17. carry 70lb dog down 12 flights for second time today.
18. return from walk with ivan and leave him with friends on the second floor (thank you monica & eddie).
19. wander aimlessly through midtown for a couple of hours spying on people being all cozy in their well lit apartments.
20. return home approximately 30 minutes before electricity came back some time around 9:30 pm – waited, walked the dog, reset the clocks and watched a movie.
this is not what i had planned for the day.
“First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.”
~ Napoleon Hill
Posted in life, New York, ny city life, nyc, Photography, thoughts
Tagged 1st avenue at 52nd street, con edison nyc, dog, highrise apartment, plans ruined, smoke, transformer fire
it was 13 years ago today that ivan said goodbye to his friends at the humane society on 59th st. and headed 4 blocks south for his new home at 340 e. 55th street. he was wearing a little yellow rain coat that the staff gave to him as a farewell gift. i remember our walk down second avenue like it was yesterday. while holding his leash in my right hand, bursting full of puppiness, ivan sped down the avenue while i tried to keep up, schlepping his crate stuffed full of his belongings in my left hand. the entire way home i kept thinking ”wow, you’re mine. you’re going to live with me. i have a dog. you’re mine.”
funny how i thought he belonged to me. it didn’t take long for me to realize that he didn’t belong to me at all, but i belonged to him. he stole my heart and now owns it completely.
ivan, december 8th 1999
he was the cutest thing i ever saw.
ivan’s first day at home
and he still is! happy day boo!
*
ivan, december 2010
*
♥
ivan, e. 52nd street, 2012
♥
“Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.”
- Helen Keller
♥
Posted in family, life, Love, ny city life, nyc, thoughts
Tagged anniversay, best friend, december, dog, humane society, ivan, love, NYC
i know they are doing the best they can.
they are probably over worked and under staffed.
their work environment is crowded, loud and stinks like dog pee - so instead of ranting, getting over emotional, screaming at the top of my lungs and possibly hurting someone, i will simply state the facts.
ivan has cushings disease. in april the vet said he could wait until symptoms worsened before having to go on meds.
symptoms: panting, excessive hunger, excessive thirst, excessive peeing, among other things.
by excessive, i mean he needed to pee a river every two hours – until it became every hour and 15 minutes – or less.
◊
monday: ivan gets blood test at humane society. he is there from 8:30 am until 6:00 pm.
i am told results may be in on tuesday, if not, call on wednesday. i am rationing ivan’s water and he is panting a lot.
◊
tuesday: ivan peed in the lobby on his way to get out the front door as fast as he could.
wednesday: after calling 3x and being put on hold for so long i had to hang up due to fear of going over my allotted at&t minutes for the month, i finally waited it out and around 5:00 pm i got through. i left a message for the doctor. he did not return my call. ivan peed in the elevator just 1.5 hours after he had last been out.
◊
thursday: called 8 times during the day and got a busy signal each time. ivan peed in the kitchen 1 hour after we had been out. it is his very first ”accident” since i got him in 1999. i am no longer giving him water, only ice cubes. he goes to his water bowl every 15 minutes or so to check the water status. ivan woke me at 4:00 am to take him out.
◊
friday: i called at 9:30 am and the line was busy. i decided to walk to the humane society and wait for the doctor in person. after waiting over an hour, i had to rush back home to let ivan out. i did not see the doctor but felt confident that the receptionist would not forget to tell him i had been there looking for meds. ivan peed on the carpet in the hallway while waiting for the elevator.
◊
saturday: i was put on hold 4x by the inept humane society receptionist and hung up each time after five minutes. at 3:30 I called back and held for 19 minutes and 50 seconds before the receptionist answered.
receptionist: ”thank you for holding, how may i help you?”
me: ”this is my 18th time trying to get through to doctor rubenstein, who promised to have test results for me on wednesday, and i’ve just been on hold for 19 minutes and 50 seconds!”
receptionist: ”that’s actually not bad, our average hold time is over 30 minutes! and dr. rubinstein doesn’t work weekends.”
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it has been challenging to remain zen in the city . . .
Difficulties increase the nearer we approach the goal”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Posted in humor, life, ny city life, nyc, Photography, thoughts
