BRIGHT

BRIGHT
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Four squirrel dogs and he, had loaded into the cammo truck before daylight. It was squirrel season in the Ouachita mountains.
The chill of the night air was still present as they rolled towards the area that they planned to hunt.
Shivering, he thought, “Ol’ Dillon isn’t hanging out of the window, so it may be a bit cooler than I thought”.
“A little heat in the floorboard will let us keep the windows open”.
The smaller “wet weather” branches of the streams are still dry so they are casting into large hardwoods near streams that have plenty of water.
The dogs are anxious to get on the ground so he stops in a likely spot and drops the tailgate.
The dogs immediately run several circles to burn off a little tension energy, then come back to him as if to say “whatcha’ a’ waitin’ on ?”
Early sunlight shoots bright rays of intense light through the heavy tree cover.
The earth is warmer than the air so it is giving up a small amount of moisture in the form of vapor.
As the very bright streams of sunlight cut through the light mist they look like the lazer beams from a science fiction movie.
The “bottom” they are in was an old homestead house place many years ago. The mostly oak trees are very large and shut out the sunlight to the extent that there is little under brush. Walking is easy and it is a most beautiful sight as the dogs spread out searching for the scent of the elusive squirrel that they hunt.
The reverie of this beautiful moment is broken as the Jack Russel Terrier “Patch”, squeals.
She is dancing on her back legs looking into the tree tops and moving backwards at a quite incredible speed, as she keeps track of a squirrel moving fast through the tree tops.
As the other dogs come to her to help, he thinks “ain’t it great to be in the woods with a gun and a good dog “!