sweet, simple, and loving

i woke this morning and found my dog, miles, curled up all cozy against my belly. he's sweet...mmmm.....he makes me smile. sweet, simple, and loving. miles. josh and i adore him (and star, of course). to dogs, cheers. there's a book you must read: dogs never lie about love, by jeffrey moussaieff masson. here's a blurb:

i have watched the faces of my three dogs with intense interest; whatever the task at hand is, they bring such focused intensity to it. they turn to watch which way i will go at a fork in the road. they are so interested. it is extraordinary how much interest they can invest in the most ordinary thing. i find it entirely humbling......

.....rani almost never stops wagging her tail. she seems to be pure happiness, all the time, everywhere-- as long as she is outdoors. we humans are artificially confined, even though we confine ourselves. our light is artificial, as is our food, our clothes, and much of our conversation, as well as the objects that surround us, cars, clocks, computers, and washing machines. when we are out with our dogs, we are able to leave this world of artifice behind. many people report the therapeutic effects of walking with a dog.......

.....dogs allow us to fantasize about spontaneity, emotional generosity, and togetherness. this is right, partly i think because dogs are strangers to cynicism. dogs are not worried about how they will be perceived by other dogs. they do not have to hide their joie de vivre for fear of appearing naive, and they do not need to feign boredom when they are in fact intersted for fear of appearing unsophisticated. dogs never stand around at parties wondering what to say, or why they came, or how pitiful they might seem to more elegant or more amusing or more important guests. they do not struggle to be witty, getting right to the point, going straight for the source. yet they manage to come away with a greater and more accurate fund of information than humans do at their parties. for the dog sex may or may not be present, in deed or thought, but information, knowledge is critical: what kind of dog am i dealing with? who stands before me? where have you been and what did you do there? but even more basic: who are you really?

questers of the truth, that's who dogs are; seekers after the invisible scent of another being's authentic core.