The dogs remind me to listen. They remind me to cease judgment of all creatures great and small.

They were happy when I turned off the news, where all the pundents scream and yell about impending doom.

Wow!! Why did I watch it so long? No matter. It's off now, and is off for good. That's the promise I made to my dearest friends, Ulysses and Mukunda.

I like it that the dogs don't talk as conversation and endless analysis. Yet they do converse but silently, through intuition, through loving glances, and as in the case of Mukunda, sometimes with loud barks when he sees a human friend he recognizes.

Ulysses is even more silent than Muki. He often looks like a giant tortoise as he makes his way to his customary place beneath the kitchen table.

And now as I sit on my sun porch, and darkness descends, even the birds have ceased their song.

Ulysses lies beside my writing arm on the couch, and Mukunda lies at my feet. He is wearing a teeshirt to protect his stiches for yet another week. When the tee gets dirty, I have several others that are working well. I especially like the Planned Parenthood tee, that on a dog who never was "fixed." He never needed to be. He always stayed close by, he loves people, all dogs and children.

Ulysses is another story. He is a Golden Retriever. He's supposed to be mellow, friendly and lead the thieves to the family jewels.

But Ulysses kills groundhogs, squirrels, (if he can get them), hates other dogs except for Mukunda, whom he worships, and is fiercely protective.

A man approached me in the park one time and Ule's hair stood on end and he snarled and lunged at the man.

Ule is my Old Yeller. Mukunda is my Saint Reborn.

When these dogs die, I will not fall apart but will be put back together because they taught me how to live, how to love and forgive. And in their love for me, I have learned to love myself.

Their presence in my life has shown me the Presence that resides within myself and everyone else.

Their Being-ness has taught me to slow down, turn off the TV, to sit in the night and listen to sound and silence.

Walking with them night and day has acquainted me with the sky, the clouds, the identified and unidentified objects that soar beyond the clouds. We often walk along the river that the dogs have always known.

The heron silently skims the river surface and is quite a gift to behold.

The geese chase Ule while he swims and scold him when he reaches the shoreline.

These Dogs are Gods.

They are beauty in all guises.

Words are inadequate but may help you to transform your heart, as you read them, one by one.

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