He walks in beauty, like the night?

I witnessed something wondrous to me today. It had been a fairly routine dog romp out in the backyard. Murphy was tracking the perimeter of the yard, loping and leaping over tree roots and bushes in his way. Sadie was hiding behind the planter, waiting for him to come toward the house so she could chase him away.

Suddenly Murphy caught sight of something. I am not sure what it was, but an obvious guess would be a squirrel. Anyway, the point is this: Murphy was transformed. Gone was the clumsy "all arms and legs" one-year-old lab puppy and in his place was this magnificent beast, moving so slowly, so cautiously that I hardly recognized him. First he positioned one front paw before carefully following with the other, then the back paws would follow, gently, one at a time. He who has seemed so wild and free-spirited was now a disciplined force to be reckoned with. Such incredible grace was in this rambunctious boy of mine. He crept halfway across the yard before something broke the spell. Just as quickly as it came, the moment had gone and Murphy romped around the perimeter of the yard, all puppy once more. But for that short moment? Breath-taking!