Today was easily one of the nicest days I have ever seen in New York City. After a miserably rainy day yesterday, the sun came out and brought the gorgeous autumn weather with it. Central Park in autumn is rivaled only by Central Park in springtime. My allergies respond equally to both, unfortunately. So my eyes are swollen and itchy…at least I could see well enough to get some good photos.

Ella and I took a sunset walk around The Reservoir, and here are some of the winning shots from the evening… (click on the photos to enlarge them)

Just wanted to quickly share some shots from this morning’s trek into Central Park. Ella and I have found a little spot all to our own that, as you can see by these photos, also has a pretty nifty view of the city skyline in the background. Ella enjoys her tennis ball, I enjoy the view…tough to beat.

Enjoy.

(the images are kind of small here-click on any of the pictures or go here to view them in full screen)

Ella and I recently came upon a lovely Ballerina Mime in Central Park. I have seen her once or twice before, but this was Ella’s first glimpse. The mime stands still as a statue until a passerby gives her money and then she performs some improvisational ballet moves. Always on the lookout for a good photo op, I must admit I wanted to give her some money in exchange for her agreeing to strike a pose or two with the pup for the camera. Do you think for 10 bucks she’d be agreeable to trying some sort of lift combo with Ella?

Anyway, I realized pretty quickly that I left the apartment without my wallet which is pretty typical. I usually forget something - cell phone, Ella’s ball, etc - and frankly I’d rather forget my wallet than poop bags which I have done before and was forced to come up with some very creative clean up solutions which won’t be discussed here. Anyway, priorities in line, I did remember my camera, so I decided to try to discreetly get a few pics of her from afar. The Ballerina Mime may have done a lift combo without the cash (how far does “pretty please” get you these days?), but my morals told me it was better to steal a photo from afar instead.

I found out when I got home that apparently the Ballerina Mime is pretty well known in these parts. Her name is Therisa Barber, and she’s a classically trained dancer who moved from England to New York City hoping to make it on Broadway. You can read a really nice bio of Therisa here, and here’s a short clip of her in action:

Ella and I started our morning as we usually do, by walking up to the dog run so she can chase tennis balls for an hour until she’s at least tired enough when we get home to lay down for a couple of hours and let me do some work.  Unfortunately, our morning routine went very awry.  I knew we were in trouble when I got there and there were no tennis balls to be found.  Usually there are at least a half dozen or so available so I have the luxury of throwing balls in rapid fire succession  to tire her out even faster.  But this morning…nada.  And I stopped bringing her own ball because Ella is so passive the she drops it the second we get there and other dogs play with it and she just stares at them for an hour.  Just as I was trying to figure out an alternative to tiring her out, a man walked in with his dog…and a brown paper bag.  He walked over to a bench, sat down, and proceeded to take a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel sandwich out of that bag and rest it on his lap.  In the blink of an eye - literally - Ella ran over, pawed half the sandwich onto the ground and swallowed it whole!  Mortified I ran over as fast as I could to pry her away from him in the hopes of salvaging the other half.

Toss the lint brush - get the Furminator!

It doesn’t take much to get Ella excited.  Everytime we head outside she acts as though it’s the very first time.  If only we could all experience life with such wonderment…and if only random strangers didn’t tell me I ought to get a trainer as Ella bounds out the door, barrels over sidewalk traffic, and sprints down the block with glee.

But if you think that sounds crazy, you should see her when it snows (or rains or hails…any inclement weather really).  We always try to make it to Central Park early before the snow starts to melt or has been soiled by the masses.  It truly is a winter wonderland perfectly suited for a goofy puppy and a woman with a camera.

I have a hankering to try my hand at photography…couldn’t resist the amazing backdrop.

Shot of Ella’s rear and the Conservatory Water/East Side of Manhattan.

I couldn’t even launch that snowball before Ella made a go for it.

Ella peers back longingly at the kiddies sledding on the hill in the background. Ella on a snow saucer? Hmmm…

And finally, the requisite stick - even better frozen.

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In addition to the marathon runs at record pace Ella drags me on every morning, I have also started integrating some “off-leash” time during which we play fetch with her favorite toy (her Cuz) and her frisbee. I say “off-leash” because of course Ella doesn’t listen to momma nearly well enough at this point, so she has to stay on her 30-foot training lead. And let me tell you, I have such a love-hate relationship with this training lead. On the one hand, it has given momma a shot in hell at stopping Ella before she sprints off after a squirrel. On the other hand, it’s never fully untangled, and when other dogs drop in on our game of fetch and it turns into a puppy play session, that damn lead gets wrapped around more furry appendages than you can shake a stick at.

If I were a journalist, I’d surely be fired for being this late on a story.

Lucky for me, I’m not a journalist - I’m a blogger. And I’ve got puppy pics that are timeless in their adorability. I can even make up words like “adorability”…with this kind of freedom, why would anyone want to bother reporting on legitimate and current news?

Anyway, in case you hadn’t heard, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the development of the original design plans for Central Park, the Central Park Conservancy and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation set up a hot air balloon ride for New Yorkers and visitors alike to catch a bird’s eye view of the City and the Park. The balloon was flying through August 22nd. Sorry you missed it. If the site’s still up, you can get more detail on it here. (but why bother…it’s over and done…perhaps you should just scroll down to the cute puppy pics below since that’s what you’re here for anyway)

Strangely, dogs aren’t weren’t permitted on the balloon ride.

Perhaps it’s too risky having all that fur flying around so close to the flames of the burner (although I bet the FURminator could take care of that)…Or maybe it’s because the basket wasn’t intended for quadrupeds, so allowing them would mean fewer riders per trip and less $$ in the balloon company’s pocket (Cue hard-nosed journalistic headline: “Dogs keep Aeroballoon’s profits from reaching the sky”)…

Honestly my biggest concern was that Ella would have caught the urge to indulge her predatory bird instinct at 500 feet in the air. So we thought it best to admire the balloon from the safety of the ground at Cherry Hill.

Sorry I don’t have any aerial shots for you, but aren’t pics of Ella with her tongue hanging out WAY cuter?

Enjoy.