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NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - If you pass the intersection of Hardscrabble Road and Daniel Road with any regularity, chances are you have seen them. Two guys who sit together on the guard rail and apparently discuss the meaning of life while their dogs carry on their own conversation.
They are Jack Anderson, a retired electrician and Walter McKinney, a retired New York City cop. The dogs are Trouble, a 10-year-old Jack Russell Schnauzer mix, and Gracie, a cocky Cocker Spaniel who pushes Trouble out of the way at every opportunity.
The two men are neighbors who have been walking their dogs together for at least 10 years. They go out twice a day every day. They used to walk up Fields Lane but "the traffic has gotten too heavy along there," said Anderson. So they stop at the guard rail and rest a while before going home.
People stop by to say hello. "We've even been offered water," said McKinney. "Everyone knows us. If we go into Croton Falls without the dogs, everyone asks where they are."
Jack Anderson has been living in North Salem since 1946. He has no computer and only one TV set. He is still using a rotary telephone.
McKinney inherited Trouble, in a way. His daughter owned the dog. She came home to visit for a week and left Trouble behind. That was seven years ago.
What do they talk about? "Sports, the news, the weather." And what have they noticed as they sit there? "Eight out of 10 cars drive through the Stop Sign," said McKinney. Anderson added, "And most people drive 10 miles above the speed limit."
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