Travis, the little dog man with a mind of his own, elevates my mood to blissful happiness--most of the time. We journeyed off together in my little sports car to Austin a couple of weekends ago and spent the night with my adult son at his musician colony. The night became dark and stormy, so Travis organized his little body into a plushy chair, sitting in it all night long fully alert to every creepy sound. Our misery magnified by the scary howling of the packs of feral dogs that live in the woods near my son's sprawling house that he shares with four other twenty-something musicians. This endless caroling kept Travis ready to fight all night long, and forced me to twist and turn, uncomfortably, all over the worn velveteen couch that could probably spend a few nights bragging about its own sketchy history. Travis sat up straight with his head cocked to the sounds of howling and barking, military style, while I repeatedly struggled up and down a dark flight of stairs for the bathroom and intermittent sips of water.
We started the day in fine form; bright sunshine, with a musical interlude and a tasty snack. We ended the evening at the dog park where Travis threatened an innocent bystander with his snarling; and cold wind and rain threatened to send us off scampering to the car.
But we are always happy whenever we are together. The strangest quality about Travis is his attachment to Vinnie, my musically talented son. Normally, and on most days, Travis patronizes the odd human, but only to exhibit his ultimate disdain and distaste for our entire species. He will draw a human in with his almond shaped eyes and friendly nature, only to bush up like a hedge hog and then start snarling or biting. But, lately, I am seeing less of this in Travis, almost as if he is beginning to find a way to forgive humans. I think Travis is happy alone with me. I don't think he has the capacity to fully care about anything the way a normal dog does; but I think, with time, he will come to believe that not all humans are tormentors.
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