Nov. 11,1984
                                                        RECOLLECTIONS
It was the Fourth of July in the 1930's. The sun had been up only a few hours but already the heat waves were moving across the horizon in a seemingly endless procession. It would be another hot day. The boy left the house and headed for the barn. He whistled and called the dog. That was really an unnecessary ritual because Buck was already going along beside him. He put his wet nose into the boys palm and received a gentle squeeze in return. They spent a lot of time together, that boy and dog. He wasn't much to look at and no one knew for sure who his daddy was but the boy really didn't care. They understood each other and many times the boy didn't even have to tell the dog what to do. Why, only this morning when they took the cows up south, when he opened the gates to let the cows across the road into the south pasture, one old cow took off down the road. Buck took off after her and brought her back. Of course he expected some praise for what he had done and the boy did not disappoint him. Maybe that was the reason they worked so well. They were not dog and master. They were a team. They were partners. Sometimes the boy wished that Buck could talk. But then again maybe it was better that he couldn't. That dog knew a lot of secrets. The things they had done together. And the dreams - the boy wondered if dogs dream, well, just in case they couldn't he shared all of his with Buck. He would tell him about all the country they were going to see. All the places they would go and as he talked, the dog would look into his eyes, and he was sure that every word was understood. There was no time to dream this morning. Of course it was a holiday and some of the neighbors would be going over to the Houseworth Lake or some other place and once in a great while they went; but not today or tonight either. There wasn't any money and Papa was working on the road and he was the man about the place. There was work to be done and he went about like a young farmer who knew what he was doing. Well after all he was a young farmer. True, he was not yet in his teens but he had been doing a man's work for a long time and he knew what must be done and how to do it. At the barn he caught, Sailor and bridled him. Then he went to the little building they called the shop and took down the wire stretchers, picked up a hammer and some steeples, and mounting the horse they started for the pasture. The day before some of the stock had broken into a field and he was on his way to repair the fence. When they arrived at the place where the fence was down he dropped the reins and allowed the horse to graze. How many times had he been told not to let the horse graze when the reins were dropped? Well, Papa or the older boys would raise cane if they knew he did this because everyone knew that when you ground hitched a saddle horse, it was supposed to stand there until someone picked up the reins and led it away. He took up the tools and started mending fence. Nearby was a small prairie dog town. It seemed like prairie dogs, monkey faced owls and rattlesnakes lived together. Those owls, what odd birds they were. They would stand at the entrance of a dog hole and watch a person's every move. They could turn the head so they were looking behind them and never move anything but the head. The dogs were much more wary. They would come up and peek over the mouth of the hole but if there was any sudden movement they were gone. The rattlesnakes were to be feared. The boy knew that it was dangerous to walk in the tall grass near a dog town. One couldn't be too careful. It was said that during the dog days of summer the snakes would strike without warning. Maybe that was so, the boy didn't know; but he was always watching and listening for snakes. That is just a part of the way it was out here on these prairies. Animals seemed to recognize a rattle from instinct and a person only had to hear that rattle once. After that they would never forget. Just to think of that sound sent chills up and down the boy's back.
They finished fixing the fence. The dog was nosing in some dead weeds in the fence row. He pulled back from the weeds and there hanging from his lip was a tiny rattler about six inches long. The boy killed the snake, mounted the horse and headed for home. When he arrived home and told his mother what had happened she assured him that it would not kill the dog; but they made him a bed in the cellar where it was cool and gave him milk to drink. By nightfall his jaw was so big that they feared that he wouldn't be able to swallow. The long night followed and by morning all the dog wanted to do was just lie there. On the second morning there was a little less swelling and the dog seemed a little better. A few days later he seemed to be as good as ever. Once more they were ready to roam the prairies again. That was a close call. After that they had a healthy respect for rattlesnakes.