Many people like to romanticize the good old days – truth is times were hard back then. When my Mother was a little girl, her family lived on the CC Ranch southwest of Nanton, Alberta. The Ranch, situated on Willow Creek was silhouetted by the wild and beautiful Rocky Mountains. The land was filled with bush and farther in towards the mountain was thick timber. Visitors to the ranch were a rarity. Her writing tells of a time not so long ago when many people still relied on horsepower, grit and man’s best friend to survive. With that being said, I hope you enjoy the following story based in the wild and untamed Alberta Foothills that she loved:
Dawg
By: J.V. Andrus
Slowly across the top of a hazy hill came a weary rider pushing along a small, shaggy herd of long horns. A white dog followed on the heels of the rider. Occasionally from behind, the white dog eased up alongside the long horns to press curious calves back into the herd then he’d fall back into line with the dozing rider. The little group descended the hill down into a small valley lush with a carpet of thick green grass.
This was as good a place as any to spend a hot afternoon, the rider thought as he eased himself out of the saddle. He loosened the cinch, dropped the bridle reins and leaned back against the trunk of a huge tree whose branches draped low over the mouth of a stream that bubbled around a rock bank nearby.
Through half closed eyes he surveyed his herd.
After drinking from the stream the long horns began to graze from the thick green grass of the flat valley and began picking their way along the low lying hills.
A few feet away, the white dog lay panting; his long tongue lulled out from the side of his mouth and from the end of it dripped saliva. His huge soft brown eyes held the man’s gaze; ever so gently, his tail swayed back and forth.
Without uttering a word, the puncher butted a cigarette which had been hanging from the corner of his lips and eased down into the warm sunshine. With the heat of the sun now on him, he slept. (more…)
The Trefoil Muse 