(A man and his dog were sitting in a small church yard accessed only by hidden alley ways behind the busy streets of the City of London.)

(The man took a bottle of water and an inflatable dog bowl out of his rucksack, and they shared the water.)

Man:  It is amazing there is such a quiet oasis hidden in the midst of busiest streets of London.  You cannot imagine this from the outside, can you, Richie?

His Dog:  Well, we can smell grass and trees from the outside.

M:  Can you?  That is amazing, too.

Now, what do you think of the famous City of London, Richie?  This is your first visit.

HD:  I have never walked anywhere before, where I do not meet a single fellow canine all the way.  Is this a dog-free zone?  Are you sure I am OK to be here, Master?

M:  Ha, ha, Richie, of course I am sure.  You are safe here.  I never noticed but you are right.  We have not seen any dog at all.  Perhaps that is because the City is the place to work, not live.  People come here to work during the day and leave in the evening.  They do not live here.  Therefore, no canine to walk.  Dogs are around where people live.  That is an interesting point, actually.

I suppose you do not like this place then, Richie?

HD:  Yes, Master.  I quite like it, particularly all these back streets.  There are lots of intriguing smells.  For instance, that building there, I am sure it used to store liquor.

M:  Wow, really!?  You are great, Richie.  Yes, I think it used to be an old coaching inn.  That part must have been a cellar for a very long time.

What else?

HD:  I could smell the remnant of coffee there.

M:  Wow, Richie!  Yes!  They say the building was an old coffee house!  I now see how much you can enjoy this walk.

As you have said, this may not be a very dog-friendly place, with a lot of traffic, busy people, and so on.  All centres upon business here.  But at the same time, the City is a treasure trove of history.  We can find countless old buildings of great historic value and interest.

For instance, that large imposing building where you lingered quite a while, that was a fish market from 600 years ago until Victorian times.

HD:  Ah, I knew that.

M:  Well, it must have smelled quite fishy to you, I think?

HD:  Yes, Master.

M:  And another one.  That colourful looking shopping arcade, where you lingered even longer, that used to be a market selling meats and poultries for centuries.

HD:  I knew that, too, as soon as I arrived there.

M:  You refused to leave for some time, Richie.

HD:  Did I?

Well, I liked the quaint looking buildings like those as well as their smells, Master.

M:  Yeah, Richie.  Rather nice, aren’t they?  Those are the charm of the City.  This is the oldest part of London, you see, some date back to Roman times, nearly 2000 years ago.

HD:  Dogs have been with people for more than 10000 years.

M:  Oh, have they?  Well, the city is not that old….  But you remember that archaic small church we saw?  A part of it is Norman, I believe.  That is the 11th century, Richie.  And it still exists and in use today.  Amazing, eh?

Of course London had a great fire in 1666, which destroyed almost all the buildings in the City.  That is why most of the churches here were rebuilt in the 17th century.  Still, even that was more than 300 years ago!

HD:  I also liked that old shop front, Master, by the Norman church.

M:  Ah, yes, that is from the 18th century.  The style of the façade is typical of the time.

Did you smell something nice there, too, then?

HD:  It mainly smelled of a mothball.  But a few other interesting smells as well.

M:  Oh, did it?  …That is impressive.  No wonder each spot intrigued you.

HD:  Yes, Master.  But tell me, what about these huge metallic buildings dotted around in between them?  Do they also have history?  I could not smell much, actually.  Or nothing interesting for that matter.

M:  Oh…Richie, do not mention that.  Those are the new buildings which have been built quite recently or in the process of being built right now.  More are coming.  All are the products of this very 21st century.

I suppose the day will come years later when they regret their own doings, just as we have regretted some less recent doings of our own.  We humans, as you know, tend to repeat the same mistakes, I am afraid.

Those ultra-modern buildings may be convenient for business purposes, but to me, they look quite threatening….  They clearly spoil scenery of such historic importance, in my opinion.  Look at St Paul’s.  It used to be the tallest building in the City.  Now you can see how dwarfed it is…. Sad.  And all these beautiful church towers.  They are just buried in those glass-covered skyscrapers.  I wonder why the authorities do not restrict the height and appearance of the new buildings, so that they blend into, or at least match the surroundings.  Particularly, the height.  They are getting taller and taller.  It seems that people compete with one another in the height of their buildings.

HD:  Humans have always aspired to be taller from the very beginning of its history.

M:  Have we?  Why do you say that?

HD:  For what else would anyone decide to stand on hind legs alone?  It requires effort.

Everyone else–well, almost, normally chooses to stand on all four–apart from birds, of course.  They have had only two legs from the start, as far as I know.  But then, they can fly, you know, therefore, no need to be tall to look down others.

Humans, though, they could not fly like birds.  But, fortunately for them, they had four legs like other animals.  Therefore, they decided to stand on only two so that they could be taller, and be able to look down others.

M:  You think so…?

HD:  Well, this is my theory of evolution, if you ask me, Master.

You may not agree, of course.  But everyone is allowed to have his own opinion.  Are we not, Master?

M:  Yes, of course….

Anyway, Richie, let’s go back to the subject.  I have heard that the surface of these gigantic buildings got really hot on sunny days and once one of them could even burn the part of the car parked at the foot of it.  By reflecting the sunlight.  Does this not sound awful?  It is forgivable, perhaps, when it is a car with nobody in it.  But can you imagine what damage these could cause to the people walking beside them.  Could be catastrophic.

HD:  Yes.  Cats are messy creatures.

M:  …What?  What did you say?

HD:  I believe that is why you humans call it cat-astrophe when you have a disaster.  I have never heard you say dog-astrophe, I am sure.

M:  Oh, Richie…!!!

Anyway, a cab driver even said he could manage to fry an egg on his car’s bonnet using this reflection.

HD:  Wow, that is pawy!  I want that egg!

M:  Rrrrrrrichieeee!!

HD:  Sorry, Master.  Dogs tend to look on the sunny side.

M:  Of course you do….

Now, let us make a way home, Richie.  Pop on a bus before it starts to rain.

 

(The man and his dog took a bus home.  When they got home it did start raining.)

M:  Oh, my God, it is raining again.  We have had so much rain recently.  I have really had enough of it.

HD:  I do not mind.

M: Don’t you?

HD:  Dogs do not.  Our life is so short, I mean, a canine life.  We have no time to worry about weather.  Someone told me that we age 7 times more quickly than humans, however quick that means exactly….

M: Well, actually they do say so.

HD:  See?  We have little time to worry about anything.  Anyway, rain or shine, it is just your state of mind.

M:  That is what you think?

HD:  Well, the boys from Liverpool taught me so.

M:  Did they?  Are they your friends, or masters of your friends?

HD:  No, no.  You introduced me to them, Master.  The Beagles.  One of them is called Lennon.  He sang so on your record.

M:  Ah, The Beatles, you mean.  Rain.

HD:  It is my favourite song.

M:  Is it?  But they are The Beatles, not The Beagles, Richie.

HD:  Are they?  I am not sure about that…, but, yes, the song is my most favourite.   I think the Lennon chap had a kind of canine perspective.  The genius often does, you know.  We do not care if it rains or shines.  We can tell the present weather by watching people’s reaction.  He is a great guy.

M:  Hmm….  He was.  He is dead, you know.  Murdered.  He has gone too young, too soon.

HD:   Oh, I am sorry to hear that…but I am sure he aged 7 times quicker than other humans.  That is why he has gone too soon.  The genius often does.

M:  What?  Hmmmmm….  That is not true, obviously, but there is something which sounds rather wise in that remark.

HD:  Thank you, Master.  For your compliment.