Henrietta sat under September sunshine on wet grass. “Woof! Woof… woof, woof, woof, woooffff… woof!”
Typist stood, stepped away from her oatmeal, and slid the patio door open.
She intended to shush the fourleg… but stopped herself when she heard a faint woof waft over and through the trees riding crisp autumn air. A call and response between the furred continued until Henny realized she was being watched.
The thoroughbred of black Labradors stood and made eye contact with her twoleg. She bounded across the lawn, up the stairs, and over the deck boards. Typist released her charge from her tether. Wet paws trod into the kitchen.
“Which one of you speaks Bark?” Typist asked the muses. “What were they talking about?”
“Greek, yes,” Urania said.
“Body language, yes,” said Tal.
“Sorry Typist,” said Calliope. “None of us speak Bark… yet.”
Words from Typist:
The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.
~C.G. Jung
This morning with the ladies in my Listening Circle we touched on the significance of relationships with our dogs. 🐶 To share your life with a dog is transformational, no doubt.
A reading from Wandering Words: A Walk from A to Z
Chapter 3, Count Your Blessings
(Mara crossed the rainbow bridge in 2019.)
Noting the 6H pencil, I looked for details in the sketch that would have benefitted from such hard lead? The dog’s eyebrows? The jigity jig jig details of the hair on Henny’s crown? And the squishy looking ball atop the #6 - smudge medicine? Even our relationships with crafts and arts can change us.
Your reading today touched me in several ways (at least). Training our canine companions relies in part on the dog’s instinct to please it’s master. Relationships. Reciprocal. Your point on gratitude encourages my developing and practicing an attitude of gratitude. Perhaps to the point of that becoming our “default setting” in our dealings with others?
Your mention of oyster crackers cued another Apalachicola, FL, memory from recent years. Once oysters from the town’s surrounding bay waters were raked, sorted, iced unshelled, and shipped over a vast multi state area owing to their singular flavor. Now non-existent. On a long weekend that included Izzie, our Fido, we walked some streets in the town, discovering a shop featuring items for all-things-dog. One item they made themselves was a dog treat called “Oyster Bones.” It in fact contained finely ground oyster shell mixed with other tastier ingredients. Oyster bones to strengthen dog bones. Pay it forward?
Izzie, 3/4 poodle + 1/4 chocolate lab, has acquired quite a good supply of words she recognizes. I talk regularly to Iz as I’ve done with past dogs. I try to use the same commands and phrasing. Once my brother-in-law asked why I talked to a dog? I replied, “I don’t know how to bark.” Just like Calliope said!
Sign: “I put my grandma on speed-dial. I call that InstaGram.” 😁
Didn't see the 6H pencil, just the H9. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯