Barkus 2008

The Krewe of Barkus walked through the French Quarter on Sunday afternoon. My cousin and I caught the parade upon a balcony overlooking St. Ann. The theme was Indiana Bones and Raiders of the lost Bark, so we saw rolling balls after Indy-clad anthropologists with whips and wooden arks, weiner dogs dressed as snakes, a turban-wearing chihuahua, and then other spirited costumes not associated with the theme such as MIke the Tiger, Dogs in between hot dog buns with mustard, or with ketchup,craw dogs in a tin vat, and lots of princesses and other pretty dogs. What was bad was that I left Reddy at home for my own selfish reasons. But I will not do that at Barkus 2009, Reddy, I promise. You really missed out.

The first Barkus parade I went to was in Shreveport, actually. Last year, Reddy and I went to the parade finish line along the riverfront with our dog park petition. We got a good number of signatures but it was hard to collect a lot with a dog in one hand and a pen and clipboard in the other with lots of other dogs prancing around in costume. That was a fun and cute parade. But this French Quarter one was HUGE. The procession lasted over two hours!

WANTED: Cowboy

On Thursday night Peter let Cowboy and Joker out of the house for their evening whiz. According to Peter, it was only four minutes later Cowboy escaped through the wedge of the fence in pursuit of a cat ( popular in the fairgrounds neighborhood). Cowboy, an eight year-old black lab duck dog, was missing through the cold and wet weekend.

When I saw Peter on Sunday night, I couldnt believe the news. Reddy and I stayed with Peter, Cowboy and Joker this fall while I worked here while not residing here. Reddy was the one always getting into trouble; scratching the wooden doors, chewing through Cowboy and Joker's plastic kennel (Reddy has a metal cage) used for weekend hunts, jumping over the kitchen's baby gate and setting a bad example to the other dogs (Look! They're not here! We can lay on top of everything!), trying to dig under the house, and eating everything in the trash can. I could hardly believe Cowboy was the one to escape when all he wanted was to be good; he sat, he was the first one to come when called, he always wanted to be pet, he is a lover, he seeks the approval of others.

Peter posted WANTED, lost signs throughout Esplanade, the Bayou St. John, and Fairgrounds area to no avail. Cowboy's collar tags had his old Austin information on it. As I drove to work Monday morning I could not get that old rascal Cowboy out of my head. Did someone claim them as their own once he snuggled into their lap? I know he did not get run over, but where was he?

Peter called me Monday afternoon to tell me that Cowboy had been found! His text message read: "In Lakelawn cemetary by the train tracks. He must have gone through City Park and crossed over I-10 on the train bridge."

And what is so great is that a cat rescuer lady by the cemetary noticed Cowboy and tried to get him to come to her. But he was shy, timid, probably scared sh--less. She fed him cat food throughout the weekend so he stayed around. meanwhile she told a friend about this black dog and her friend saw the flier in Peter's neighborhood and connected the two.

I love a beautiful ending!

"

How do we love New Orleans?

Let us count a few ways:

1. Levee dog park
2. Barkus parade
3. Pals Lounge and The R Bar
4. The canine culture
5. Outdoor coffee shops with free internet access

To be continued...