A pug's life

Daniel has a baby friend named Henry who is 18 months old but who looks like a three year old because he is so huge. Henry is one of those personable babies who loves everything he comes into contact with but does not necessarily have the fine motor skills to manipulate the world yet. It’s delightful to watch him stumble around with a huge grin on his face. In fact, sometimes he gets so happy that he forces the edges of his mouth out while sticking his lower jaw forward, which has the effect of making his neck tendons taut. Then, he pulls in air through his throat, leaving his vocal cords closed, making a sort of groaning zombie-like noise. This display indicates that he is super-happy and the sensation of it makes him smile so big that he has to stop doing it in order to laugh. I’ve been watching a video that my parents taped off of Channel 11 called A PUG’S LIFE and the sight of all of those pugs and their smitten owners has made me nearly as happy as Henry. But, I think it’s possible that I’m a little more emotional than I give myself credit for lately since the documentary has made me cry as well. Once, on the segment about the pug rescue organization, a new owner was discussing a dog that was “the saddest pug the organization had ever seen. She just sat in the corner of the room depressed all the time.” The new owner just wanted to try to make the dog happy. The idea of that pug being so sad just resonated with my own homesickness and I cried. So, I got up, turned off the TV and went down to the beach for a little while. Then, I needed to sort the socks, so I turned the tape back on. I was happy as Henry again as they showed the art gallery owner who admitted that he couldn’t get the dog to do more than sit, either. Also, the woman who said that pugs are completely loyal as long as you are feeding them. And then! They had a section on owners remembering their pugs that had died and I was gone again.

At some point. my life and my emotional status will be stable. Until then, you’ll find Henry and I sitting on the floor, playing with Retha, making crazy zombie noises and laughing while she tries to jump up and lick our faces.