When it’s early in the day, and I’m feeling energetic, I like to take an extended walk around a two mile loop near our home in Kyle. Goldie and I walk down Moore Street, in front of the library, to Opal, turn left and go home by way of Sledge Street.
There is much to love about this walk; we see workers toiling away at sewer repairs near the library, and we greet library patrons as they enter or leave this wonderful hall of learning. But most of all, we pass an actual ranch off of Sledge St. The first time Goldie saw the cows she barked, as is her want, being a cow dog. The next time we passed by, she simply sat there and observed these beautiful creatures – white, brown, spotted and red, all with their horns shorn. Goldie has received no training working these cows; in fact, I’m not sure what a ‘cow dog’ does. But in my mind’s eye I see her herding them, nipping at their heels, and expertly avoiding a thrown horn or a swift kick.
At other times she will often make a lunge at a bush or a leaf, peering into the thicket, into brush that is too thick for me to see anything. At those times I simply ask her, “What are you looking at?” Again, my imagination takes over, and I think she’s seeing a squirrel, or mouse, or chipmunk and wants to go chasing after it. Other times, knowing how she likes to bark at nothing in particular, I get the impression she’s just exercising her God-given talent for searching, sniffing, and lunging just because it’s so much fun!
