Charlie (our dog), being solid black has the bonus feature of being able to quietly blend in with shadows, dark corners, curl up in black chairs or stretch out fully on black sofas when the light of the day is almost gone or has left us all together and become virtually invisible. Other than two strips of the whites of her eyes when she is looking off to one side or the other (and her mouth is closed) she is just a featureless mass of black ...
She likes to hang out with us, so this feature lends itself rather well to just finding a dark spot somewhere near us and laying down. If she is within a certain degree of my peripheral vision I see movement as she shifts her eyes back and forth and her presence is noted. It is nice to have that movement so that we don't accidentally step on her or sit on her!
Why she has 'Shifty Eyes' - where she will look at me ... then somewhere else ... then me again ... then the SAME somewhere else ... me ... 'somewhere else' again ... I have no clue. While this quirk may not be all that notable - other than that it is weird - it creates the CUTEST eyebrow! A perfect little half circle made of muscle and a mass of black hair - giving her a quizzical air.
I am not sure what she is seeing ... me and ... what, my imaginary friend? Since her eyebrow(s) are so cute we overlook this odd behavior and just go with ... OK and the fact that Charlie is just 50 pounds of black hair, springy legs and odd behavior.
Last evening was no different as I was sitting at my desk I could sense, more than see - my little shadow hanging out with me over my right shoulder.
"Ah, Kjærlighet!" I said. Charlie's name is not "Charlie" it is "Kjærlighet" which, in Norwegian means 'love'. It is pronounced: Shar-lee-het thus the nick-name of 'Charlie'. I thought that would simplify things, but since Charlie is a female dog - maybe not so much ...
"Skal ve snakke om nyheter?" My Norwegian is GONE! I believe I asked her if she wanted to talk about the news, but in actuality it could be somewhere near that - or somewhere very far away! Charlie is 100% Norwegian and FULLY FLUENT, I am sure in the language. That she corrects me only once in a while is sweet of her ...
"Ahhh, the news is too depressing! Let's talk about this new Photoshop CS6 ... COOL huh? TOTALLY LOVE the new features."
We talk. Photoshop ... that vet appointment I have been meaning to make ... the weather ... the doctor ...
We bond ....
We talk some more as we watch the last rays of daylight drain from the skies.
"Veldig deilig, yes Charlie? (very beautiful) So ... give it to me straight, just how bad has my Norwegian become?" I laughingly ask her - while turning towards her - only to discover that I have been "Talking to" and "Bonding with" a black duffel bag:
Man ....
6 comments:
LOL This just makes me glad that I'm not the only one that things like that happen to.
Also the reason for her darting glances is that she respects you as being dominant over her on the food chain or within your familial "pack". To stare you down would be a challenge of aggression but looking at you (to keep an eye on things) and then darting away when you look at her shows respect for you. Its classic dominance hierarchy behavior. :)
Still chuckling . . .
BAH HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!
Hilarious!!
Too funny! Black duffel bag dog, you are well loved.
Did I ever tell you about the time I reached down in my near-sightedness to pick up a gray sock and ended up touching the dead mouse that my cat was bringing me as a love token? I think my experience was MUCH worse!
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