Perfection

I think we as humans tend to follow the rule that familiarity breeds, not contempt, but fondness.  The things we like the best are those we know the best, and unconsciously our patterns of love (and hate) follow not what is rational, but what is familiar.

I could get all depressing on this and talk about why racism and sexism and suchlike are a natural extension of this tendency, but it's not what I want to do today.  What I want to write about is that it just hit me today- Bruno is a beautiful dog.  He's canine perfection, and I couldn't get a handsomer companion.  (Let me explain before you dismiss me as a fanatic.)

All this  whole time I've had him I've been comparing him to Ginger, and usually unfavorably- Ginger had brown eyes so dark they looked black, so Bruno's are not as soulful and intelligent-looking because they are orange-brown instead.  Ginger was slim and streamlined, Bruno is therefore not as graceful because he is stocky and muscular.  Ginger's tail hung low most of the time, therefore Bruno is not as pretty with his curly tail. And so on.  Every time I thought about his physical appearance, I compared him to Ginger, and since Ginger was the first dog I ever owned and really connected with, my brain pattern of what beauty is in dogs was based on her.  I didn't admit this to anyone publicly- I didn't want to look like a jerk or a snob.

It's taken a nearly a year to retrain my brain to find Bruno attractive.  Whenever people told me, "What a handsome dog you have!" I'd smile and thank them, figuring they were just being nice.  I thought of him as a nice enough dog, but not a pretty one. I saw him as a hodgepodge of parts from different breeds because of his mongrel ancestry, and not as an integrated whole. I'd think, "Hmm, I like his ears, but they should be set a little higher on his head," or "I like the shape of his muzzle, but his lips are too loose and flappy."

Last week I took him for a run on the bike path along the lower Clackamas River in Oregon City, and we passed a full-blooded German Shepherd.  The thought popped into my head- "My dog is way better put-together and handsome than that one!"   And today I felt nothing but pride seeing him lying out in the yard.  This is a really new feeling for me. Sometimes in the past I had to force myself to see the good in him, with all the trouble he's caused, sticking with him because I owe it to him, but today love comes easily.

A miracle.