And So It Follows

An owl at dusk in the forests of Painted Post

The other night, I took two young pups to the woods--Blaze and his brother, Tony--both Seth's sons.

It's still training season here, and that's what we were about as both these young coonhounds still have much to learn about chasing ringtails.

As I parked my truck and stepped out into that forest so near dusk,
I saw something flying to land in a tree nearby.

Something that rarely had happened before: An owl flew toward my hounds and me to land in the branches overhead.

The second time in as many months this sort of encounter had occurred.

(The first occasion, I was with Bella--Tony and Blaze's sister--in a completely different forest miles away, but I couldn't get a clear picture of that hoot owl. )

Seth had an interesting relationship with owls. Never had a hound who could get owls calling back oftentimes when Seth let out his baritone bawl.

And truth be told, neither Blaze nor Tony were barking (yet) that night.

Nonetheless, an owl managed to land nearby to simply watch.
Soon after I'd taken this picture, that owl flew off.

Never saw that ol' bird again that evening. (He might say the same of me, I suppose.)

Later that night, Blaze treed his first raccoon solo--and a layup, at that!

(Tony played backup but did all right. They're both still learning.)

A large part of me imagines Seth would've been proud to see his sons perform that night.

Another part of me imagines that he--Seth--may very well have.

You see, there's a magic here, if you know where to look.

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