For the twelve months that Sparkle has been living with us she’s been sheltered from the deeper cultures of the city. We haven’t avoided them ourselves those large people-things, events of congregation in the streets and parks, thousands of citizens gathering for food or fun, fancy and free. But Sparkle, and her country-bumpkin upbringing, has always stayed safe at home where it’s quiet and not so chaotic. Last night, poor Sparkle, was outed to the city. Sure, she’s been to the off-leash park to be chased by random dogs, romped through various cities and highways, been camping, driven across provincial borders, and even spent three weeks on vacation with my parents. But large crowds. No. Last night, at my meek suggesting, Karin brought our poor puppy to the Fringe, the famous theatre adventure extravaganza, where I am volunteering and where ten thousand people were milling to the sporadic entertainments near Whyte Avenue. Sights, sounds, smells… Sparkle has never been so overwhelmed. Karin and I sat near one of the outdoor stages shortly after 10 PM listening to an all-singing, all-dancing acapella group — Sparkle unsure: she was either standing facing us with her tail tucked as far as it would go between her legs, or sitting on my lap with her head nuzzled into Karin and I. The crowd were chanting and singing along, clapping, stomping, shuffling, eating and walking about. Little kids and teenage girls wanted to pet her, middle-aged hippies wanted to tell me about their own dogs, and too-cool high schoolers were just curious enough to break from their sheltered conformity to admire the rare oddity of a white whippet tucked against my legs. I wonder what she dreamt last night, poor Sparkle, peppered with the culture of the city. |
|
Tired of your anonymous pic? Put a face to your comment.
Comment avatars can be set up at en.gravatar.com.
It's free, fun, and secure. And then we'll all know who you really are!
so-so good, yeah >> I don't know where else I'll get used (if at all) but they printed one of my pictures in the "Fringe Flash" the volunteer daily newsletter during the festival. Scroll to the bottom and look for the dog with the sticker
One Month to One Year >> So you are aware... with my role at the Fringe wrapping, I thought I'd dive head first into yet another photography project. Yes, it's that time again. With Claire's eleven-month birthday just yesterday I began a new daily photo campaign
One Shift, Two Shift, Red Shift, Blue Shift >> I'd write more (rather than out of sheer guilty obligation) but I spent the evening at the Fringe festival taking photos and I'm really quite tired. One shift down, three to go... And of course, you probably already know the
Fringe Kids >> Just out of interest, if you check out the "Scrapbook" page of this year's (2008) fringe festival, one of my pics of Claire and Lola made it into the website. http://www.fringetheatreadventures.ca/index.php/festival/scrapbook/P60/ I have some other photos there as well, but you can view those
