Dina's World

My cousin Dina was born about a month after me and she is a part of some of my most cherished childhood memories. She was always a dreamer and I remember how much we loved to play with her three-dimensional circus book. A few years ago, Dina started her own three-dimensional theater and I was delighted to hear that she is coming to New York as part of a new art tour.  

Dina creates wonderlands by adding motion and light to photos and figures. She combines them together in such harmony that makes me feel that, like people in-love, this pieces were always meant to be together.

Today, I went to see her preforming live at the JCC with a trending Israeli radio program: Israel Story (סיפור ישראלי). At this show we celebrated Israel Independence Day and the star of the program was Theodor Herzl. The creators of the show went to 48 Herzl street in different Israeli cities and brought us the stories of the people who live there. During the program, Dina took us to a spiritual-visual tour in her little theater that, on this occasion, presented Israel. The theater beautifully came to life on screen with the motion of a camera and some paper-cut figures.

I love the fact that, even as adult, I can still join Dina's dreams. Dina is a professional dreamer and I'm always happy to dream with her.

Sakura Matsuri

The first day of spring was snowy and the cold weather refused to go away. However, today we were out to celebrate spring in all its glory! Alex and I went to the cherry blossom festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. This is my second time at the blossom festival, so I was not surprised to also see the celebration of the Japanese culture.  

To me, the main attraction of this festival, other than the flowers, is the cosplay-clad attendees. Whenever I think no one can surprise me, I get blown away by people commitment to dressing up. 

From a women with horns, red eyes, vampire teeth and a dragon on her shoulder to a man riding on a smiling unicorn. All the colors and the people, it was almost epileptic.

For photographing people this is one of the best event in the city, as most of the attendees will cooperate and pose for the camera. For flowers however, this is not the best time for a photo-shoot as the place is packed with people. 

The best time to photograph the flowers is in the middle of the week, when the gardens are almost completely empty. 

Paxon & Morena

This Monday, just one day after Louie left, I went to the ASPCA to pick up Morena. Morena is an 8 years old, mixed Shih-Tzu with diabetes which made her almost completely blind. When I first saw Morena, I wasn't impressed by her looks and she doesn't seem to care to much about me. We both set together and waited for her medical instructions and equipment. That was the moment I first saw Paxon. Actually, I saw only his yellow eyes as he was hiding inside his carrier. A couple brought him to the ASPCA with a door-less carrier. I was intrigued.
The women was crying and the man explained to me that this cat came all the way from Russia. They adopted him from his original owners two weeks prior but it turned out that the man is allergic to cats. We were talking to each other and out of the blue, and I couldn't believe this was happening, I heard myself saying that I'll adopt him. The stuff of the ASPCA were very surprised, almost as much as I was, since only recently I brought back my beloved foster cat, Matthew. Nonetheless, they played along and told me that Paxon first needs to go through behavioral examination and neutering and that they can put him on hold for me. It was estimated that Paxon will be ready for adoption in two days. Although I didn't actually see Paxon, there was no doubt in my mind that I'll be able to adopt him and foster Morena at the same time. Later that day, I came back with my husband to meet Paxon in person and we decided we are going forward with the adoption.

I still had two days to think, nothing was final. When I left the ASPCA with Morena she was super excited to get into the cab and she quietly set in my lap the whole way home. It seems that Morena's main goal in life is to please her owner. She is one of the nicest and happiest dogs I have ever met, when we go out for a walk, even dogs that are described by their owners as "very unsocial", want to play with Morena. Also, I never need to worry that she might bite someone or even bark, but I do need to guide her through the streets and protect her from the chaotic city as her poor sight doesn't allow her to respond quickly enough to rapid changes (like approaching lampposts).

As for the diabetic part of Morena, it was pretty easy once I got the hang of it. She needs to get her insulin injections twice a day, but only after she finishes at least half of her food portion. At first, it went very smoothly, as each time I fed her she immediately fished all her food in less then 5 minutes. The tricky and most nerve-raking part was when I brought Paxon home.

Two days after I first saw him, I got an email from the ASPCA stating that Paxon passed his dog test (meaning that he will have no problems living with dogs) and that he is ready for adoption. Within a few hours we went to the ASPCA to adopt Paxon. On our way in we saw Matthew. I felt sorry leaving Matthew behind and adopting a cat I don't really know instead. I do love Matthew and I miss him but I feel like I can't completely trust him (generally, the book title "How to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you" pretty much summarized our interaction).
The adoption process at the ASPCA was very efficient and professional. We met the behaviorist who examined Paxon, she said he is very shy but easy going. When she brought the dog in for the test, she had to literally wake Paxon up in order for him to notice the dog, he didn't mind about the dog and went back to sleep. After filling up `your dream cat questionnaire` and a bunch of forms we received a cat in a box. I saw two yellow eyes looking at me and I knew this was our cat.

We came home to Morena with the new cat and a few toys for her. She was extremely happy to get the toys so we took her to the hallway to play and released the cat in the house. He was not nearly as curios as Matthew. He sniffed for a bit and placed himself on the kitchen counter. After the cat choose his spot, we let Morena in and she was thrilled to find out about her new friend. The cat however, was significantly less excited about his new roommate. At night, we closed an area for the dog near our bed and let the cat roam free in the house. In the middle of the night, I woke up and saw him trying to snuggle underneath my blanket.

Next morning, the cat started stressing about all the noises coming from the dog so he decided to hide in his litter box. He refused to leave his litter box, therefore, I arranged another litter box for the cat and transform the existing one into a hiding place. I closed the area with a sofa in order to keep the dog out. I took the cat out of his box (he is the nicest cat, he was purring when I picked him up), replaced the litter with a blanket and put all litter in a different box. After I finished, and although the dog was out of sight, the cat immediately went back to his hiding place and wouldn't go out again until late that night.
I left everything as is, and by now, a few days later, the cat has no problem sitting next to the dog. He is completely confident moving around the house and sharing his space with Morena. It was pure joy for me to wake up with them this weekend. They were both very playful and cooperative. Morena and Paxon chased their toys and Paxon didn't stop purring while I cuddled him. Although Paxon still refuses to play with Morena, he tolerates her presence and while I'm writing these lines, Morena is sleeping in her bed under the desk and Paxon is laying on the desk behind the computer monitor.