Jersey Couture

THE SCENE: Montclair, NJ

THE ACTION: Walking the dog through town to Anderson Park

On the way to the park, Mike--one of the owners of Murph’s Sporting Goods—remarks that Bruce is a lucky dog, because he gets a nice, long walk every day.

In the park, the older woman with the fading memory sits with her two little Yorkies, who run around “off leash,” but never stray far from her bench. Two extremely fit Montclair State University athletes come jogging by—he, tall and African American; she, short with bright red hair. Around the park, other senior citizens sit on benches—some with little dogs, some just gazing out over the field. A dad throws a softball to his daughter, who is wearing her blue and white team uniform. Another dad swings his older son by his arms, while his younger son jumps up and down in eager anticipation for his turn—the grandfather pushes a third child in a stroller. A pretty young mom with a blond ponytail pushes her double stroller at a fairly fast clip, while another young woman tries (somewhat unsuccessfully) to get her dog to catch-up to her gait.

On my IPod (coincidentally), a song by Bruce comes on, followed by Queen Latifah, and Southside Johnny—New Jersey artists all. Walking Bruce while listening to Bruce and not a big-haired, loud-mouthed person in sight—this is my kind of Jersey Couture.