Fiendish Friday: Posturing

When I am walking the dog I get into this meditative state where my mind just free flows and the strangest thoughts come to me. It’s not like in yoga where I actively focus on emptying and quieting the mind. This is a state where it just races and I let it, not judging or directing just observing.

So this morning I am walking the dog on the back loop and this enormous Bernese Mountain Dog comes loping up it’s driveway barking like mad at us. I pause to see if this is going to be a problem, ie does the dog have an invisible fence or do I need to get out my taser to protect us. Don’t judge, it’s a jungle out there. (See my previous posts about bears, cougars, and coyotes, oh my.)  But the dog stops at the end of his driveway and my dog happily runs over to make his acquaintance. I watch my dog wag his tail and sniff noses as the BMD shrinks. His head drops, his tail drops, his shoulders sink and he bends his elbows preparing to drop in submission. This huge dog is afraid of my 50 pound mutt, that is maybe a third his size. My mutt which looks like someone bred a basset, a beagle, and a fox hound and then through in some more breeds for fun. He’s so funny looking, he’s cute. And the BMD is afraid. I shake my head, call my dog, and we walk on.

My minds travels to this monstrously huge dog in my neighborhood as a kid. The day I met Butch, my friend and I were going door to door getting orders for Girl Scout Cookies. He was sitting on his front porch so still, we actually laughed about it – thinking he was a statue. Then as we were about to step on the porch there was this tiny low growl, so quiet we almost didn’t hear it. We started to back slowly down the walk way. He leapt and we ran. Butch chased the slower runner and took a big bite out to ensure she knew who was boss. (Rubbing my scars fondly.) Anyway, Butch didn’t need to bark and jump. He had it where it counted and he knew it.

This thought leads me to my husband. My calm, gentle giant. Who never needs to posture. He will hold my purse, he will buy me tampons at the store. He holds me when I cry. He listens to me ramble repeatedly when I am too upset to make sense. He will say he is sorry. But if he has to… If it has become necessary….he will calmly explain his logical point of view and if you cannot be persuaded to do what needs to be done, he will rip your head off, stick it on a pike, and take care of business himself. smiles. He makes me feel safe – he has it where it counts and we both know it.