Cute of the day
Just now, in the train: a bloke and his dog. The bloke was sixty if he was a day, and looked like a character portrayed by Clint Eastwood in a movie: hard-bitten, work-roughened hands, very lived-in face that looked as if the man had spent time in a war, in prison, on the road, or a combination of it all. He could have been a demon-hunter, too, as in 'Supernatural'. Yep, he definitely had a touch of Bobby about him.
The dog was a sensible-sized critter of the collie type, with longish silky hair, black and white and some hints of brown, and fluffy upright triangular ears. I think an Australian sheepdog looks like that, but I don't know if that breed isn't a tad bigger.
The dog kept asking his human for cuddles and scritches, and the man provided them, to the open, blissed-out and abject happiness of the dog. He kept putting his paw in the man's hand, nudging the fingers with his nose, and leaning his profile against the man's jeans-clad leg to have the fur at the throat ruffled. And the man did as he was told, with a sort of dry, wry amusement, but with great, infinite tenderness. The love between dog and master was very, very obvious and palpable.
This wouldn't have been so cute if the human hadn't been this Bobby type, with those hands you'd expect to see working with big tools, chopping wood, pumping a shotgun, or throwing punches in a brawl. His face had that monosyllabic Clint Eastwood expression, too; but the dog gave him away. Soft-cored, very gentle inside, and he was the centre of the world for that adoring, fluffy animal. They meant everything to each other, and they were happy to have each other in a big, bad world where you have to be tough as nails or go under.
Together with essayel's link to the vid of the orang-utan and his hound dog yesterday this reinforces my impression that people and dogs belong together, that is, evolution has driven primates and canines together in order to cooperate, seek safety with each other, and face the classic nature-red-in-tooth-and-claw together from very early on. Cats are charming companions, but humans and dogs are meant for each other on a very deep-down level.
Like those two on the train just now.
The dog was a sensible-sized critter of the collie type, with longish silky hair, black and white and some hints of brown, and fluffy upright triangular ears. I think an Australian sheepdog looks like that, but I don't know if that breed isn't a tad bigger.
The dog kept asking his human for cuddles and scritches, and the man provided them, to the open, blissed-out and abject happiness of the dog. He kept putting his paw in the man's hand, nudging the fingers with his nose, and leaning his profile against the man's jeans-clad leg to have the fur at the throat ruffled. And the man did as he was told, with a sort of dry, wry amusement, but with great, infinite tenderness. The love between dog and master was very, very obvious and palpable.
This wouldn't have been so cute if the human hadn't been this Bobby type, with those hands you'd expect to see working with big tools, chopping wood, pumping a shotgun, or throwing punches in a brawl. His face had that monosyllabic Clint Eastwood expression, too; but the dog gave him away. Soft-cored, very gentle inside, and he was the centre of the world for that adoring, fluffy animal. They meant everything to each other, and they were happy to have each other in a big, bad world where you have to be tough as nails or go under.
Together with essayel's link to the vid of the orang-utan and his hound dog yesterday this reinforces my impression that people and dogs belong together, that is, evolution has driven primates and canines together in order to cooperate, seek safety with each other, and face the classic nature-red-in-tooth-and-claw together from very early on. Cats are charming companions, but humans and dogs are meant for each other on a very deep-down level.
Like those two on the train just now.