Parked Tractor

Oates demanded an explanation from Willie as to who parked the tractor in Oates' usual parking space.

Sidewalk Prayers

Oates was confused as to which way the sun was as Willie led him in morning prayers.

Foggy Horizon

Willie whispered to Oates his secret to happiness as the morning fog rolled in.

Pumpkins

Willie and Oates found the first pumpkin stand of the fall this Sunday afternoon.

Park Lights

Tonight, Willie and Oates enjoyed the grass at their local park all to themselves.

Bare Bed

Willie and Oates enjoyed the raw temperpedic mattress cover before the bed was made this evening

Show Me The Way

Tonight Willie and Oates waited for their arthritis treats before dinner. I love them more than anything or anyone in the whole world.

Standing Guard

Willie and Oates could not tell whether this was an entrance for a library or a church but decided it was a good place to stand guard anyway. They make very friendly stoop greeters.

Ride Like The Wind

Tonight, this is what it looked like after Willie and Oates fought over the tv remote.

Explorers

After all these years here, Willie and Oates know their way around the map of New York City.

Dirt Mound

This afternoon, after Willie and Oates found a huge mound of dirt piled on one of their local streets, they tried to figure out how it got there.

Bone Time

Tonight was a relaxing night at home, and Willie found an old bone to dissemble while Oates tried to stay close to the action.

Courtside

Willie and Oates found some prime seats right outside the local basketball courts.

Unclear Results

Willie and Oates enjoyed a moment on the sidewalk after Willie returned from his test. A benign result means no surgery. But now according to the vet, a begin result might still demand surgery. This is all very stressful and annoying.

They Don't Love You Like I Love You

Willie and Oates walked the seedy strip of Seventh Avenue tonight. Tomorrow is Willie's big test.

The Ledge

This morning Willie and Oates visited the new steep stoop across the street from us, part of a brownstone that has be under noisy construction for over a year. The stoop has no railings, so the boys took a long look at the pavement below.

Book Store Bouncers

Oates and Willie watched the door at their local book store tonight. Their general rule is "no dummies".

Coffee Shop Closed

Oates could not believe the local coffee shop was closed this early Sunday evening but Willie had no answer for him.

Statues

Willie and Oates shared a quiet gaze into each other's eyes as they shared a bench with a statue.

9/11

These guys were both born in the months after 9/11 and now have been in NYC for all 14 anniversaries. Oates struggled a bit on the walk down to the water but you would never know it from this picture.

Jack & Jill

The title has little to do with Willie and Oates but a lot to with Ray Parker Jr. As all things do.

Leather Store

Tonight, Willie and Oates helped me pick up my leather bag which was in need of repair. I got it ten years ago when they were puppies.

Timber

Although our dog walker said it was the hottest September day since 1919, there was no weather-based explanation for the mysterious felling of a tree on our block. Oates and Willie did not look at all suspicious.

Labor Day

Willie and Oates kicked back on this Labor Day by sitting on the grass at the new park.

September Flowers

Oates looked off into the distance as Willie made sure no other dogs were coming.

Grass

Neither Willie or Oates could believe that the new park allows dogs on the grass. Can this last?

Shades

Willie and Oates paid a visit to the local sunglass stand this afternoon, but couldn't find what they were looking for.

Not Amused

What a difference a night makes. This time, Oates' stoop singing failed to amuse Willie on this early weekday morning.

Stoop Buddies

Oates sang some old spirituals as Willie gazed at the moon while they sat on someone else's stoop.

I just saw that this is my 100th post, the 100th day of the 1,000 days.  I'm very happy that I've kept it up but can't help but feel a little sad as I'm 10% into a very optimistic estimate of how much time I have left with these guys.

I started this as an outlet to write about them after their successive health scares, knowing that they are in the twilight of their lives. It's overwhelming to me at times and I thought writing this, even though no one in the world is really reading it, would be helpful.

A few weeks into this, the energy shifted from writing to capturing the best picture I could of them. To share these on a more modern platform, many weeks in I started posting the best of these to an Instagram feed that still numbers only a dozen or so followers. Which is a dozen more people who read this.

Maybe I'm just too busy to write about them at length. Maybe I somehow decided that the pictures deserved the most care and were going to be the most durable and enjoyable ways to celebrate and remember them, for me or anyone else. Maybe I felt what I had to say would soon be redundant or boring, while these pictures could never be, at least to me. Maybe I didn't want to pick at the deep and sad feelings I have when I contemplate losing them.

It was also a conscious decision at the beginning to limit my text to just these guys, not to make this some sort of loose diary and talk about my life. But that restriction has proven to be difficult. These guys, in many ways, are my life. Or at least no one in the world is more important to me than they are. Which is beautiful and sad for so many reasons I'm afraid to list them here.

Tiny House

Willie and Oates like to comb the NYC real estate market, and early this evening found something in their price range.