It was early spring. I was in the woods watching the dogs run. Honey was doing everything perfect, again. I called Pete and said I thought Honey was as good as any dog I have ever had and better than any I had now.

In September Honey was down. She could not move anything behind her shoulders. I saw her having trouble the day before and gave her a nice thick soft bed in the house and she kept sliding down that hill until she hit the bottom. The vet said she may recover, or not.

A week later there was no change and I was thinking this was it. I let her out in the yard in the morning, she was laying in the grass chewing on a bone. Then I looked and she was gone. I ran outside and heard that pretty voice of hers. She was down in the thick cane and had a rabbit going. It crossed the trail and she came on the line, dragging her back legs and going as fast as she could. I put what I had been thinking out of my mind for good.

The weather was nice and I was keeping Honey outside in a pen with May’s puppies after they were weaned. She loved those puppies like they were her own. I was walking away when I turned and saw her standing on her back legs. Feet bent underneath but standing. Must be just learning to balance on them I thought.

The best thing was when I came home from work that night and she was wagging her tail.

Honey is walking now. She is far from 100%. She may never run a hare through the deep snow again. But then again, she just might.

The day Lisa passed away, the house was full of people. Kila came in and said Dad, there’s a deer out there. That was the first time we noticed Spike. A year old spike buck. We saw him a lot that summer.

Like a memory Spike kept coming around.

Early this summer I started seeing a buck walking up the road in front of the house. His antlers weren’t developed yet but the main beams were wider than his ears. When they finally filled out he ended up with a nice eight point rack. Not a spike anymore but we still call him Spike.

There’s a young doe that comes around like Spike. Sometimes together, sometimes they come alone. She’s the only other deer that Spike seems to spend time with. We see other deer from the house but Spike has nothing to do with them.

He sees us and hears the dogs barking at him. Doesn’t seem to mind.

My daughter Kila and grand daughter Irene riding Raven and Bud.
Bud is a Tennessee Walking Horse that is close to 30 years old. He has been used his whole life to follow around bird dogs. Bud just walks but when he is walking he covers a lot of ground fast and doesn’t look like he is doing much. Bud loves to follow bird dogs and doesn’t need much help doing it. He neck reins and when you get off him you can just drop the reins and he won’t go anywhere. Bud was given to a young person who lost interest and neglected him. Kila was able to get Bud and now he is much loved and seems very happy with his new home.