blessing of the beasts

i don't go to church. normally. there is, however, one day a year when the idea compels me, but almost every year i forget until about a week later that the first sunday in october is the celebration of the Feast of St. Francis, a.k.a. the Blessing of the Beasts. and since i do love the beasts, this spectacle and celebration of our animal friends, especially at the palatial Cathedral of St. John the Divine, which i do believe is about the coolest church i know of (remind me to tell you what they do for halloween!) was enough to lure me out of bed and up to 110th street before ten on a sunday morning...


my pics of the animal procession are blurry because flashes would scare the critters, but the camel and reindeer above give you the idea. in addition there were goats, alpacas, a giant tortoise, a porcupine, a baby possum, a calf, a pony, a lamb, baby falcon, monkey, eagle, piglet, duck and even more. every time the choir sang, all the dogs started howling...

...and the best part is, everyone brings their pets to church to get blessed. gertie got blessed twice because the photo didn't come out the first time!

here's gertie hangin' with the alpacas...