Life here on the homestead always
includes pups and dogs, including lots of strays who occasionally stay
on to make this their home. Such a dog was Shiloh, who showed up at our
place one winter day several years ago. She was a sweet little hunting
beagle some hunter had dropped off or forgotten to pack back up when he
headed for home.
Now... at the time, we were still new to "country living" and we were
not familiar with the traits of hunting beagles. This one seemed to
have a wandering spirit and the kids wanted her to stay HERE, so they
penned her up in Susan's garden until she would eventually figure out
where "home" was supposed to be. Oh, she was as sweet and loving
as she could be, as long as the gate was closed.
But just barely open that gate, and she would instantly bolt off into
the brush, hunting anything that moved and howling that high pitched
beagle "hunting yelp". (When we first heard it, we thought she was
dying, lol.) This went on until the kids -- afraid she would get lost
forever in the woods -- frantically tracked her down and carried her
back to the garden.
Well, about the first of April that year, Susan decided she'd had
more than enough of this intruder into her domain, so she just... let
her out.
Off she went into the woods (Shiloh, not Susan), on the trail of a
hundred imaginary rabbits, howling and hooting as usual. Only this
time, the kids did not chase after her. Instead, we waited to see what
would happen.
After a few hours, Shiloh came trotting back out of the woods and
looked at us for a minute, as if to say "Well -- I'm doing MY job, so
why aren't you doing yours? Come on!" Then she immediately bolted into
the woods again.
A couple hours later, she came back again... stared at us... then took off once more.
An hour later, she came back once more... stared at us in a kind
of droopy, stupid, worn out way ... and promptly flopped down by the
backsteps and slept the sleep of the dead.
Well, that was her first day of "freedom" around the homestead, and
everyone learned to relax and accept her for what she was -- a dog who
HAD to hunt, no matter what. We quickly figured out she pretty much
knew where "home" was, so we just let her come and go as she pleased.
And after a few more days of "going hunting" almost constantly, we
finally decided that she really liked staying here after all. She would
usually get in one good "hunt" during the day and an even longer one
each evening, but spent most of her between time sacked out next to the
straw bales in our shed.
Shiloh was already an old dog when she came to live with us, but
we enjoyed her loving but stinky company for several years before she
bounded off to the happy hunting grounds last summer. In fact, one of
the pups she gave us several years ago is sitting at the doorway of my
office looking in at me right now as I type this. His name is Luther,
and though he is one of the laziest dogs we've ever had, he can hunt
with the best of them when he gets a hankering to. (That's Luther, with his mom, Shiloh, in the photo above.)
Which all leads me to this week's "living books for the ears" story. "The Biscuit Eater"
is about "good for nothing biscuit-eating little beagle" who wasn't
expected to amount to much... but the faith of two young boys bring out
the best in him. It is a great "boy and his dog" story by Mississippi author James Street,
which was made into a movie twice. It reminded me of Shiloh, chasing
panicky rabbits through the thickets, while broadcasting the yodeling,
bloodcurling howls of a happy hunting dog out in the woods doing what
they do best. I guess sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do,
you know? Enjoy!
Once upon a time, long, long ago...
Qualities
such as LOYALTY and HONOR and CHIVALRY were not laughed at, but instead
were highly prized virtues.... And the chance to prove what you were
made of could be waiting for you just around the next bend in the road.
Our newest collection, "KNIGHTS,
KNAVES & KINGS", takes you back to those days of history and
high-adventure. If you've gotkids who have a taste for living history,
adventure, and old-fashioned values, we'd highly recommend you give
this one a try. Over 80 terrific audio programs on on mp3 CD collection
+ bonus resources!
Click here for details!
Okay... here is the link to this week's "Living Book for the Ears" program:
The Biscuit Eater
READ THE INSTRUCTIONSbelow if you are unfamiliar with downloading a file or are having any problemswith your download.
To download a program, RIGHTclick (use the right hand button on your mouse) the linkabove, and "save target as" (or "save link as") to the directory of yourchoice.
The
file should start downloadingright away. If it doesn't, try it again,
and follow these instructionscarefully. (DON'T cut and paste this link
into your web browser -- thatwill just PLAY the program over the
internet (it will be jumpy and start& stop a lot), and will not
DOWNLOAD the program. If you want to downloadit to your computer, you
need to follow the above instructions.)
NOTE: Ifthe
file just starts playing over your computer right away, that's
becauseyou clicked the link with the LEFT hand button on your mouse.
You needto click the RIGHT HAND button to download the whole show to
your computer.
IF you right click the link and your
computer does not allow you to"save target", you need to adjust your
computer's security settings (ordisable your "internet content advisor"
settings) to allow downloaded files.
MAC USERS:
In order to downloadthese files, hold down the Control key then click
the link with your mouse. It will then download to the directory
you choose.
If your download
is unusually slow,it could be because our server is busy or overtaxed.
You might try againat a later hour. It should - eventually - work fine.
This file will be available for thenext week or two only, so don't put off downloading it if you want a copy.
----------------------------------------------------------
PLEASE...
TELLYOUR FRIENDS ABOUT THIS FREE SERVICE --
JUSTSEND THEM TO
WWW.HOMESCHOOLRADIOSHOWS.COM
Thanks again! We really appreciateyour help in getting the word out about our programs!
See you next week!
Your Friends,
The Erskine Family
PO Box 187 * Canmer, KY 42722
www.homeschoolradioshows.com
Questions?Click here to email us
Copyright 2006, Homeway Press, all rights reserved
