There is something about the prairies
That’s different from anywhere else Read more
The Prairies
Blog
You Know
You know your momma was deep south if
You ate okra
In Shrimp Gumbo or
Fried crisp or stewed and in soup
Or with rice Read more
Fall
When the hint of cool fills the dawn
And the summer heat starts to fade Read more
Scouts
The year is 1947. The War is finally over, in Europe and Japan. Veterans of the War, leaving home for it as boys, have returned as men, matured by a baptism of fire, some wounded physically, more wounded emotionally, but sharing joy it is over along with its scars.
They are at Broomhill, Manitoba, having trained bird dogs nearby since mid-July. It is the first week in September, time for the Canadian prairie trials, resuming after the War. Mose Blevins had been a scout all his adult life, and now he is fifty-five, not old, but his arthritis is taking its toll. His son Robert is home from the War in Europe. He is twenty-six, hoping to succeed his father as a dog man on Twin Oaks Plantation in Southwest Georgia. Read more
No Regrets
My life grows short
I somehow know
But I dread not death
Or where I’ll go Read more
Before and After DNA
Before DNA proof-of-parentage became possible, practical things were different in many ways, Ben Reach and Sam Nixon MD contemplated in their end-of-day musings over drams of The Macallan in Ben’s library-conference room. Nowadays, proof of “who’s your pappy?” was answerable conclusively by a Q-tip swab of saliva submitted to a lab test for humans or beasts, thanks to DNA science. This had revolutionized pointing dog breeding practices starting in summer Read more
One Too Many
Billy Eanes was desperate for money. To pay gambling debts. Without the money he would be dead—and soon. Billy was now working as a freelance field trial scout. For years he had scouted for Moose Morris, the top all-age handler on the circuit, but Moose died, heart attack. Since then Billy had freelanced.
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A Deeper Loyalty
The year was 1947. Jess Combs and Frank Eanes were veterans of the War in Europe, home now to Alabama and Georgia where before the War they had apprenticed under their fathers to become pointing dog field trial trainer-handlers.
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More Field Trial Friends Remembered ~ Marshall Loftin
Like Ed Mack Farrior, Marshall was a link to a glorious period for field trials and a consummate raconteur. He had also seen his share of hard times. He was not an admirer of The National Bird Dog Champion Association, for a very personal reason—its rigidity had cost him his best customer and field trials its most avid English setter sponsor, Dr. J. U. Morrison.
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More Field Trial Friends Remembered ~ Ed Mack Farrior
Meeting Mr. Ed Mack Farrior was one of my most fortunate human encounters.
I had been invited to report the Amateur Free-For-All at Union Springs. Knowing fellow Virginian Parke Brinkley and Mr. Ed Mack were close friends, I asked Parke to provide an introduction. Read more