So I was house-sitting for some family all of last week, as they were out of town. They have this little dog named Buster. I’ve always liked dogs; they make me smirk. But until this week, I didn’t fully realize how influential they can be in altering human behavior. How so? One word: eyebrows.
A dog’s eyebrows are amazing little acrobatically maneuvering items that can hypnotize a human being in a great many ways. You could never persuade me with mere words to believe that a little canine was a very contemplative or intelligent creature—I know better—but its eyebrows could. I never have been alone in a house and felt the need to explain my actions or alter my behavior for a cat. I never called a cat “brother” or “dude” or “friend,” but all of these affectionate titles and many others came pouring through my lips toward this little bewildered looking possessor of eyebrows. Never have I apologized to cats—I scarcely do to my nieces and nephews—after having almost stepped on or unintentionally snubbed them while going about my life; but I was practically reciting lamenting poems of apology to this little pointy-eared leg-lifter all week.
Why? I truly believe it’s because neither cats nor kids really have eyebrows to speak of, but when the inside corners of a little dog’s eyebrows go up, I’m immediately convinced of its humanity, even its superiority. Thankfully, the spell doesn’t last long. My stupor usually ends—and it’s always a great shock, too—when the little animal starts licking itself in a less than dignified manner as if to remind me, “Nope, I’m just a dog.” Maybe so, but your eyebrows are so ... transcendent!
