You know the huffles?
Those times when emotion's so strong, your feelings outweigh the ability for your tear ducts to flow 'em out... That's when the huffles hit...those brief little mini tremors that help your body catch up with your heart.
Every now and then Layla huffles. I call them "huffles of gratitude"... They only last a few seconds, and they're always followed by a sigh.
Last time, I was massaging her back. Having watched her adjust to a leg that can't bend and a rod that's not natural, I've marveled at how her muscles worked to compensate to the awkwardness of it all. Unable to fathom how painful that must feel, I wonder if a massage might help.
Slowly I begin...Slowly she starts licking (the closest thing in front of her...which in this case was a stair tread)
Licking, I've learned from Minsky, is doggie code for "keep going"...(Provided it's not themselves. That's another ballgame entirely.) More personal than a tail wag, licking is a pup's way of doing back to you what you're doing to them...a little "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" quid pro quo.
Only in this scenario, Layla couldn't bend backwards to reach my hand, so she just licked what was in front of her...closing her eyes in pure bliss.
And then...out of nowhere...came that little poof of huffles,
followed by... big sigh.
Such wisdom in these moments... life lessons come in the smallest of gestures.
Be it dog or human, life seeks a balance, and balance demands we stop to process the emotion of it all.
Keep 'em pent up and the dam will break.
Better to have several mini tremors along the way, I've learned, than one big quake that takes you down...
That's why God invented huffles, I'm pretty sure.
(I've just never seen a dog do it. Then again, I've never met a dog like Layla. Inspiring doesn't begin to describe it.)
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