Gone to the Dogs

Usually I am commenting, profiling or otherwise ruminating on destinations quite different than today's entry. But I must tell you this one is most certainly no less interesting and boasts a cast of characters, both bi-pedal and otherwise, to rival even the quirkiest late night, French Quarter watering holes. I am talking about Cabrini Park, otherwise known  to Quarterites as "The Dog Park".  Nestled near the corner of Dauphine and Gov. Nichols streets, the dog park is a part of my every day routine...wake, coffee, take Maggie (our 8 year old 4 legged daughter) to the dog park. Deviation from this  ritual is not acceptable in her oblong head...nor mine for that matter. It is a time for us to hang out, chill out, wake up, pee, poop and navigate the circus that is Cabrini. A good portion of the dogs at the park were either rescued or adopted. Watching them and their owners, the joy they bring to each other...always reminds me why those of us involved in animal rescue do what we do...as painful as it so often is. We do it so THIS can happen. On a brisk Fall or Spring morning, it is a joy like no other. Perhaps the one place most responsible for our integration into our French Quarter neighborhood has been Cabrini. Why?...I suppose because dog people, much like the dogs they love, are just glad to meet somebody new. For that I am eternally grateful...to the dogs, to the people, and to "The Dog Park."