Janice Thomas came in the Mule Barn for
breakfast the other day, and sat at the counter for the first
time. She usually
gets one of the tables, or a booth against the wall. We were
kinda flattered
that she’d come sit with us, but wondered why. After all, this
high school art
teacher never has been one to sit down and solve the world’s
problems, the way
we do.
She didn’t keep us waiting long, though.
“Boys,” she said, “I have a deer pointer.”
She let the silence pounce heavily on our
sweet rolls while we pondered this.
“A what?” Doc said.
“A deer pointer. You want deer, you just let
ol’ Woof out and you’ll find ‘em.”
“Woof, eh?”
“Yes. He’s that new dog I got after that Lab
of mine died. I’ve had Woof for about six months now. He’s half
bird dog and
half heeler and he points deer.”
We looked at each other and grinned. When it
comes to telling stories at this particular lunch counter, the
first liar
doesn’t stand a chance.
“Points ‘em you say?”
“Locks right up. Steady to wing and shot.”
“This I
have to see,” Dud said.
So after coffee we all went out to Janice’s
place while she turned this little dog out into the wood lot. He
ran here and
there and then froze into a perfect field-trial point. We walked
up quietly and
sure enough, there was a doe standing about 40 yards away. We’d
never seen
anything like it.
“When I got him,” Janice explained, “he
thought he’d herd deer, with that sheep dog blood he has in him.
Well, the
first time he tried that, some doe just kicked the puddin’ out
of him. His tail
didn’t work right for a week.
“So now he’s switched over to the other half
of his heritage and points ‘em. He’s found that works out a lot
better for
him.”
She grinned. “And no … you can’t borrow him
this fall.”
- -
(BF)
If you can spare some time, and need some love, go to your local
animal shelter
and tell them to find something for you to do. You’ll always be
glad you did.
(UNBF)