Wednesdays in Red Hook: Finn Gallagher

Welcome to “Wednesdays in Red Hook,” a close-up look into the day-to-day life of people in our community, including the hard work, unexpected encounters, and delightfully mundane moments that make up an average Wednesday in Red Hook.

Today we’re following Finn Gallagher, a full-time dog walker who lives in the neighborhood. Usually we’d write more here, but we wanted to leave room for extra dog photos.

8:00 a.m. Finn’s alarm goes off, but she’s not ready to get out of bed just yet. So, she snoozes it and snuggles with her partner Zack a little longer.

8:15 a.m. Finn presses the “Coffee” button on her pink Cuisinart coffee maker, puts in eyedrops and then her contacts, washes her face, and finally applies SPF 70 sunscreen over her entire body before getting dressed.

8:20 a.m. Finn discovers that her psychiatrist didn’t send her refills so she digs her empty pill bottle out of the trash and calls Nate’s Pharmacy to beg for assistance.

8:30 a.m. Finn takes her own dog, Peppercorn, on a 20-minute walk. Peppercorn is a 10-year-old lab-pit mix, but Finn prefers to describe Peppercorn’s breed as “white with silly ears” when asked. 

8:50 a.m. Finn chugs a glass of kefir so the coffee doesn’t destroy her stomach, pours her coffee into a pink Yeti, fills up her very important dog treat pouch, and checks in with Zack to see if he remembered to pack flip-flops and a hairbrush for his trip, though she acknowledges to herself that “there’s no way he’s gonna brush his hair.” 

9:00 a.m. Finn drives Zack to JFK airport and looks for apartments for her sister on the way. She listens to the new Olivia Rodrigo album as she drives back.

11:00 a.m. Back at home, she wolfs down a bowl of granola, kisses Peppercorn, brushes her teeth, refills her pink Yeti mug with more coffee, grabs her insanely large set of keys, and heads out for the day. (Finn had her large key ring custom made by Polt Atolye, the leathermaker on Van Brunt Street.) 

Finn chooses to drive between most of her clients’ homes in Red Hook. She is already topping 20,000 steps a day, so she prefers to drive when she can. She says she “parks mostly legally.”

11:32 a.m. Finn picks up Agnes and Arthur. She admires Agnes’s “hilarious” summer cut and respectfully asks Agnes to “not chomp my arms while I put her harness on because it’s a terrible habit and I bruise like a peach.”

11:39 a.m. Finn searches for her bobby pins only to discover she left them in her other shorts. This leads her to think of the line “‘my cleanest dirty shirt” from the Kris Kristofferson song, “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” 

“And now, Kris Kristofferson will be stuck in my head all day,” Finn tells Agnes and Arthur. 

11:42 a.m. “Oh no! Cruise ship!” is Finn’s response to spotting the Queen Mary 2 docked in Red Hook today. There will be more tourists to dodge on Van Brunt Street this afternoon.

12:00 p.m. After their walk, Finn drops off Agnes and Arthur at Hook’d On Pets for daycare.

12:02 p.m. (Step Count: 4,287) Finn heads to Bully’s apartment where she quickly finds parking and picks him up for his walk.

12:45 p.m. Someone yells at Finn, “Where’s your other dog, miss? I thought he was bigger!” Finn says she “assures him that all of my dogs are fine. It’s my job.”

12:50 p.m. Back at Bully’s home, Finn sits on the floor and tries to get him to eat his lunch to no avail. “But, I do give him his treats anyway because he’s a very good boy,” Finn shares. 

1:00 p.m. Finn picks up Lola, a black and white pitbull mix that Finn describes as a “perfect little cow.” Lola rolls in the grass in Coffey Park. Finn overhears a few guys in the park describing Lola as “cow-colored.” “Accurate,” Finn concurs. 

1:47 p.m. (Step Count: 9,123) Finn heads to “Foo Baa” (her nickname for Food Bazaar). She chugs the last of her coffee and picks up Kaya and Sweet Pea from their nearby apartment. Finn experiences a shooting pain at the top of her spine, an occasional sensation she started feeling after becoming a full-time dog walker.

1:55 p.m. One of the construction workers on Conover Street tells Finn that Kaya looks like “a Petey.” She responds that “she is clearly a Kaya.”

2:06 p.m. “AND THERE’S NOTHIN SHORT OF DYINNNNN HALF AS LONESOME AS THE SOUND,” echoes in Finn’s head. Yep, Kris Kristofferson is still stuck in there. 

2:19 p.m. After dropping off Kaya and Sweet Pea, Finn picks up Oscar one floor down.

2:24 p.m. Oscar and Finn run into a friend who warns them they’re about to get rained on. But, Finn lets him know Oscar, a bull terrier, won’t care because he’s British. “He thinks this is hilarious, but it’s just accurate!” Finn adds.

2:50 p.m. Finn and Oscar walk along the waterfront to Valentino Pier. After dropping Oscar off at home, Finn drives over to Laika’s apartment. 

3:02 p.m. Finn and Laika walk to Coffey Park where Finn “wrassles” with Laika. 

3:32 p.m. Finn drops Laika at home and walks around the corner to pick up Finn, a Great Pyrenees almost as big as human Finn. 

4:05 p.m. (Step Count: 18,570) Finn and Finn walk along the water by Ikea. Human Finn says hello to Sue’s ducks. “Sue is my dear friend who died. She loved ducks and I always talk to her and say ‘hi’ to the ducks for her behind Ikea,” Human Finn explains. 

4:43 p.m. After dropping dog Finn off at home, Finn has a short break so she sits in her truck and reads her book, Prince of Storms, for a couple minutes.

5:00 p.m. Finn heads to pick up Keeley, a cairn terrier and one of Finn’s smaller dogs. She explains that Keeley “just gets a small walk cause she is a little older and likes to mostly lounge.”

5:15 p.m. Keeley and Finn head back upstairs and it’s time for Keeley’s dinner. Finn sits on the floor while Keeley eats and gives her a few “scritches” when she’s done.

5:30 p.m. Finn’s workday is finally over and she heads home to Peppercorn.

5:40 p.m. It’s time for Finn to wolf down another meal—this time it’s her “weight in pasta salad.” 

6:00 p.m. And now it’s Peppercorn’s turn for a stroll! However, Finn receives a text that her “friend” Grover needs a last minute walk, so once she and Peppercorn return home, Finn heads back out one last time. 

6:45 p.m. Finn picks up Grover who is sporting a Knicks bandana and they enjoy an evening walk.

7:35 p.m. Finn drops Grover at his apartment and stops by Nate’s Pharmacy on the way home to grab her medication.

7:45 p.m. (Final Step Count: 23,693) Finally back home for good, Finn changes into her pajamas, cuddles Peppercorn, and continues reading. Eventually she enjoys a bowl of chocolate peanut butter ice cream, cookies, and frozen grapes. She does not move from the couch except to make a hot water bottle for her neck.

11:00 p.m. Finn takes Peppercorn out one more time. Then she showers, brushes her teeth, and aggressively moisturizes, before ending it all with a little more reading in bed.

12:15 a.m. Another day, another dozen dog walks. Finn turns off the light and drifts asleep. 

“There’s a song in my soul for the sun going down. When it dies at the end of the day,” Kris Kristofferson sings somewhere, but thankfully this time Finn doesn’t hear it.