West Side Rag
  • TOP NEWS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • CONTACT
West Side Rag
No Result
View All Result

Get WSR FREE in your inbox

Search the site

No Result
View All Result

Get WSR FREE in your inbox

AVAILABLE NOW!


HERE

UWS Encounters: Grizzly Bears, A ‘Dumb’ Dog, and Lost Companions

October 9, 2019 | 6:25 PM
in COLUMNS
3
The Alaska brown bear diorama in The Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals.© AMNH/D. Finnin.

The Bear Truth

My husband was in the Museum of Natural History in the hall with the dioramas of animals from around the world. A father with a young son, about four years old, was there also, looking at a diorama with grizzly bears. The father said to his son, “Those are grizzly bears. Do you know where bears come from?” The little boy looked up at his father and quickly replied, “Chicago!”

— Jean Teuteberg

Zen Dog

I used to think my daughter’s dog was dumb. Not a problem solver, the dog was nevertheless sweet and dutiful. Every day, the dog behaved as if today’s walk in Riverside Park was his first ever: he reintroduced himself to people he had known his whole UWS life and marveled at the “new” dog run.

When my son accompanied my daughter on walks with the dog, they became a trio—each in step with the other two. People joked that they looked like triplets. One day during one of those walks, the boy hung back to check his phone. As my son was about to catch up, the dog looked back and barked happily, seeming to say, “Wow—there you are! Great to see you. Please join us.” The dog jumped on the boy.

Maybe, the dog is not so dumb. He is happy living his life in the moment.

— Helane S. Rosenberg

Lost Companions

The 20th Precinct, on West 82nd Street, has a small open lot which is used for fueling and storing police vehicles. One warm, beautiful day during the height of the AIDS epidemic, I heard the unlikely skirl of bagpipes and, passing the lot, saw a young man, presumably a police officer, in a kilt and undershirt, marching up and down the concrete as though practicing for a parade. Chanter and reed and drone played on and on: The Minstrel Boy, Garryowen, Stars and Stripes Forever. He glanced at me for a moment and must have seen something in my face, for he launched into the most haunting piece of all: Will Ye No Come Back Again? — a lament for the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden. I walked away, followed by the music, dreaming of lost companions.

— Barbara Bonn

Email your UWS Encounters to westsiderag.com or put them in the comments; no more than 150 words; real names required. If yours is selected, we’ll post it with your byline and send you a West Side Rag mug.

Read more UWS Encounters here.

Share this article:
guest

guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

3 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Amy Fowkes
Amy Fowkes
3 years ago

The year 1985. Place: city bus in Portland, OR.
Overheard group of elementary school kids arguing over which Mutant Teenage Ninja Turtle was the best. A few weeks later on the 104 bus traveling between 114th and 98th St. Overheard:Two small boys in school uniform blazers seated together having a very serious conversation about, and I quote, “ the relative merits of coop vs condominium housing”.

0
Reply
Ken J
Ken J
3 years ago
Reply to  Amy Fowkes

Manhattan is about real estate and it starts at a very young age. My son has been looking at apartment diagrams since he was six. He would build apartments with his wood blocks.

0
Reply
NYYgirl
NYYgirl
3 years ago
Reply to  Amy Fowkes

Omg!

0
Reply

YOU MIGHT LIKE...

My Journey Through the Kafkaesque Land of the Department of Finance and Parking Tickets
COLUMNS

My Journey Through the Kafkaesque Land of the Department of Finance and Parking Tickets

March 28, 2023 | 12:12 PM
Pupper West Side: Jofi Has Ties to Freud But a More ‘Snuggly’ Technique
COLUMNS

Pupper West Side: Jofi Has Ties to Freud But a More ‘Snuggly’ Technique

March 28, 2023 | 7:29 AM
Previous Post

Embracing the Mayhem at Barney Greengrass Before the Holiest — and Hungriest — Day of the Year

Next Post

Chicken the Dog Returns; Her Famous Owner Tory Burch is Overjoyed

this week's events image

Explore Your Favorite Subject

20th precinct 24th precinct american museum of natural history animals art bicycling bulletin central park closings columns community board 7 coronavirus crash crime development dogs events fdny fire food gale brewer helen rosenthal history jcc lincoln center monday bulletin morning bulletin nypd openings pedestrian safety photography photos politics public schools pupper west side real estate restaurants retail riverside park silver stars fitness snow sponsored subway upper west side uws

CITY NEWS

Brick Underground
City Limits
Eater
Gothamist
NY Daily News
NY Post
NY Times

LOCAL RESOURCES

Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group
Central Park Conservancy
CB7
Community Education Council 3
Assembly District 67
The New York Historical Society
Riverside Park
West End Preservation

UWS Blogs

Bloomingdale History Central Park Blogger
North River Notes

Next Post
Chicken the Dog Returns; Her Famous Owner Tory Burch is Overjoyed

Chicken the Dog Returns; Her Famous Owner Tory Burch is Overjoyed

A Horse Walked Into an Upper West Side Starbucks and ‘People Actually Looked Up From Their Devices for a Few Seconds’

A Horse Walked Into an Upper West Side Starbucks and 'People Actually Looked Up From Their Devices for a Few Seconds'

Tenants in NYCHA Brownstones Organize as Gas Remains Out and Potential Changes Loom

NYCHA Brownstones Without Gas for Nearly a Year; Nadler Calls It 'Unconscionable'

  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • NEWSLETTER
  • WSR MERCH!
  • ADVERTISE
  • EVENTS
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • TERMS OF USE
  • SITE MAP
Site design by RLDGROUP

© 2023 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • TOP NEWS
  • THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • CONTACT US
  • WSR SHOP

© 2023 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.