Living Creating Teaching (or some stuff about me)

A Tail Can Tell You Many Things

When walking my dogs, I get to shed all my thoughts from the day. I get to enter their sensory world of flora and fauna, and other various and sundry objects and smears of organic matter. I am now an honorary member of the place called “Not-Words.” I can forget about all the pitfalls and snares of human communications, all the emails, and texts, and voice mails, and just relax into the simple squeaks and woofs and shakes of furred creatures. A tail can tell you many things. Sometimes I wish humans had tails at least. For dogs, when a tail is carried happy and upright and shaking at the tip, it is mostly a good thing. Wagging is mostly a positive sign too. Other body postures convey meaning as well. A dog with a stiff-legged walk and lowered head is not ready to play nice. But floppy ears and a grin with a springy trot is definitely a sign of fun times. All this reminds me that language or communication is always more than words, spoken or written. It is connection. It is connecting to the world and its seasons, to the weather and to the pulse of a place, as well as to a part of the day. It is experiencing the movement of time. Language is life. And sometimes it is everything but words.