Beauty is the Beast

Every sports enthusiast have special moments that they relish. It doesn't matter what the sport is, there are certain times when we are amazed at what we just saw. It might be the fantastic one handed grab while tip toeing the sideline on a football field. Even arena fight fans might see some beauty in the fantastic move that almost broke a guys arm. Fly fisherman often talk about the beauty of seeing a fish take the fly, while the elk hunter dreams of the bugle as he watches the breath flow from the elk's mouth in the cool morning air. A baseball fan might be amazed at the ease of an infielder scarfing up the ball and firing it to first base while a bird watcher is in awe watching an eagle soar without even beating his wings.

I'm a very lucky man. I've got to hike the mountains quite often with my dogs. There is only Jake now, but I can close my eyes and see the grace that each of my dogs have had covering the hills. I've watched in amazement as they cover the mountain side, never missing a stride. How they can maneuver through the rocks and brush so quickly is much like a pro athlete doing their thing. The whole time they are running their nostrils are working the air for that special scent and when it strikes they are immediately in a different mode. The stalking mode. Sometimes they don't even have time to move. They just freeze on point because the scent is right there. They may be in such an awkward position that they look uncomfortable, but they don't move. Other times they spin at the scent and slowly pin point the location of the bird.

All this time they are having a ball doing what they love. They very seldom stop and are constantly aware of where I am even while changing directions constantly searching for the birds. Today I kept my camera in my pocket and just enjoyed watching Jake. I've always thought it was beautiful watching chukar dogs maneuver the mountains and obstacles on the chukar mountain but today seemed even a little more impressive. Even though we weren't carrying a gun, Jake seemed to be enjoying our jaunt to it's fullest. When he'd slow down to look for me it almost looked like he had a grin on his face. I just followed along and honored his points realizing the beauty of all the actions just to get to this spot.

As we approached the truck, Jake stopped and looked down towards the rig with a smile. It was like he was thinking the same thing as I was, "what a great time we just had". That beautiful beast of mine looked just as good right there as he did when we started his 18 mile route. I had to take my camera out.