K9 Собачьи

A link to a photo collection: Dogs of Moscow. It is quite literally about dogs in Moscow. I find it both uplifting and mildly depressing, kind of like those photos of Detroit buildings that were all the rage a few months ago. Uplifting because there are dogs in every picture, which I like. A downer for a variety of reasons. There are a few pictures that are a little tough to look at, not that they are graphic, just that they make you think about things you'd rather not think about. The captions include regrettable statistics, some that reflect solely on Russia, others that relate to the wider swath of our humanity/inhumanity.

One picture brings to mind a sight I see every so often, and I don't know what to do with it. A homeless person with a dog. It's sad to see a homeless guy (let's call him Tony), but I'm happy he's got this buddy tagging along with him - man's best friend when man probably most needs a friend. Maybe what's so difficult to resolve is that the life for that dog is probably really good, while I assume the life for Tony is nothing but a struggle. I can see our Mickey living that life waking up each day just as happy-go-lucky as he does here.

--- Yes! The sun came up AGAIN! It's gonna be a big day, I know it. I'll eat sniff wag jump run sneeze walk play pant lick strut prance drink chase sleep snack trot nap frap wrestle growl bark stretch slurp dig whimper cry tug yawn scratch. Gonna be GREAT! Let's do this thing now! Yes! Yes! Yes! ---

Tony can't be so excited. It's quite the juxtaposition. The dog is living. Tony is surviving. My head or heart or gut can't make sense of it. Some combination of heartening and disheartening.

Well, this has been mildly therapeutic/enlightening, I think I know what I think now, or why I think it, but it still doesn't sit well. When I see a homeless person without a dog, that's upsetting in its own way, but the dog-homeless combo hits me somewhere else. I guess a lot of the Moscow dog pictures have the same juxtaposed quality about them which is why I find them compelling. Sadly hopeful, or something like that. No grand summation to be had on this one, just an open end.