Paying respects to a good dog

There are places I’ll go this fall that I never see any other time of year ‑- small, intimate spots hidden from view, hard to reach, with little reason to be there unless you’re hunting or gathering cows.

Some are places I’ve killed a bird or two. Others are places I always water the dogs, where the steep banks along the creek have sloughed off providing easy access to the slow-moving flow.

There are a couple of ancient automobiles, abandoned on the prairie decades ago, that I always visit in the fall. The fenders make a good seat, one of the few places out there to sit and take a...