in the quietest moments....

have you ever thought about the difference between giving affection and receiving affection from the animals that we all love.

i was thinking about it while buddy was flipping my freaking elbow with his nose earlier when i was trying to answer an email.

buddy wasn't giving me affection, he was requesting that i fork some over to him. phoebe used to stick her butt out at me, offering it up for a scratch. phoebe wasn't seeking to make me feel loved, she was relishing the pleasure of a good butt scratch.

when we show affection to our animals we pet them, we pat them, we hug them and kiss them, we rub their ears, their belly's and scratch their butts. we are seeking to make them feel good, to feel loved and they do.

but when buddy flips my elbow, he isn't telling me how much he loves me, he is saying he needs to feel loved so i better pet him..

but buddy does tell me he loves me every day, i can plainly see it in his adoring face.

so how do our animals communicate to us that they want us to know that we are loved?

interestingly enough..it is not when luna or mika are jumping on me, frantic that i am finally home...nor is it when june is flipping her foot dangerously close to my face, trying to get me to shake a paw, or when the cats are reaching out at me and snagging me with their claws...those behaviors say they need something from me to help them feel cared for and loved.

it is in the quietest moments that these animals give me their affection.

when june lays her head trustingly against me.

when roger gently lays his head on my lap, or when daisy lays her soft head in my hands.

when little black buddy snuggles close to me in the dark and gently licks my finger tips and kyah snuggles close to my legs or coda lays across my shoulder and looks me right in the eye for just one brief moment in time.

or when patches stretches her face up to carefully sniff my face, curious, interested, and ever so gently.

it is when benny quietly leans his generous weight against me, or reaches up to give me three quick and soft licks to my face or sunny and tang engage me in head butts and body rubs while in the mood for a feline love fest.

it is when i lay on the floor and the bunnies place they foreheads against mine and close their eyes in trust or for the timid ones, shyly come up to sniff my hand and allow a gentle nose rub.

it is when the horses lay their heads over my shoulder with their warm breath blowing across my back. or when they use their soft and delicate lips to trace feather light tickles across my skin.

the pigs ooof, ooof, and gently touch me with their snouts and wag their sweet little tails.

it is when in the quietest of moments they offer something freely of themselves to me without looking to get something back and without me having to ask for it.

it is this quiet offering of some part of themselves that is their affection giving.

i haven't asked, or demanded, i haven't taken without permission, i haven't even offered anything back except freezing a soft moment in time and being receptive to their giving. but still i have received their quiet momentary gift and some days like a blessing, it silently humbles and overflows me..

my hope is that when i too share a quiet moment of offering myself freely to them, they feel the honesty of my affection and feel overflowed too.

i love these guys and their gentle giving hearts, they give me so many of these special quiet moments.