Some Dogs Do

Maggie shared my picnic lunch Saturday at the river.  She got the almonds, I ate the walnuts, cashews and peanuts.  She got a thin sliver of string cheese, and the core of my apple which had a generous amount of flesh left on.   As she was chewing on it, the slurping sounds were juicy, moist and messy.  When she was done, she cleaned herself up like a cat - she could have been embarrassed at the mess, or being a dog eating a picnic?

As she was eating it I had a childhood flashback of giving our horses leftover watermelon rinds. It was one chore which was never boring.  Horses have a slobber faucet that gets turned full on when they eat these.   There isn't any other way as the juice mixes with their saliva-it can't be contained!   Sometimes the wind would catch it halfway to the ground, stretching and thinning it into a flying drizzle that you hoped wouldn't swing and stick on your skin or clothes.  I was fascinated watching them work it till they swallowed.  Up so close, noticing every hot breath, long eyelashes blinking slowly, jaw muscle slipping and how the soft inside of their lips was different than the outside.   Silently I tried to persuade them to lick their lips or tighten their lips or tilt their head, but nothing helped staunch the flow.  They would nibble another piece into their mouth before the first one was finished all the way.   Their velvety, muscled lips could grab exactly and precisely.  

Sometimes we would cut an apple up and lay it flat on our open hand to let them take it.   Their strong lips tickled the sensitive part of my palm.  I liked it, the sensation.  Watching them up so close never became boring.  My favorite body part on a horse is it's chin.  Like a half apricot, warm, ripe and velvet soft.  Cupping a horse's chin is one of those unforgettable pleasures.... 

Wonder if that is why little kids want to pet my soft, saggy triple chin?  Maybe it's that soft?

  

The next one that does it is gonna get slapped....   

I want to be irresistible, but petting the flapping elephant ear under my arm or my chins is simply not an option till dementia sets in and I won't know about it, or remember....