By RICK WINTERSON

Did you ever think of South Boston as being mostly a desert? Well, it is. Certainly, it rains here, but almost all of the storm water drains away quickly, with only a few puddles temporarily left behind. Otherwise, there is little or no fresh water anywhere out of doors. In other words, South Boston is normally a desert, and that can be hard on our cats, dogs and other pets.

Well, Chris Gregorio, who lives in the Msgr. Powers apartments at 120 L St., decided he would do something about this. He has begun to set out water bowls, sometimes on one of his blankets when the wind is calm. He only asks that you sign your pet in – some 60 or so names are already on the cardboard posters he has hung on the Powers apartment fence. Among these names are entries like “Hamlet,” “Kujo,” “Rambo,” “Dune” and “Geronimo.”

Is Chris’s courtesy unusual? Not really – it’s just Southie being Southie, as usual.

(Thanks for this tip to that astute, bicycle-mounted, South Boston observer Ed Oliver/Bohld.)