Oliver

​I have a perfect life for an artist, living in seclusion in an isolated rural acreage, the closest village with less than 300 people.  Our 60 acres of wild land includes pasture, rows of cottonwoods planted in the 1950’s, a great variety of shrubs, grasses and wildflowers and through it all the crown jewel – Blue Creek – winding its way out of the Ogallala Aquifer springs to the sandhills to the North Platte River on the south.  Our yard abuts the creek, blue grass lawn mowed to the edge.  Birds feed at our window, a blue heron fishes along the bank, Sandhill cranes fly over during migration seasons.  We have seen deer, skunk, raccoon fox, coyote, mink, otter, beaver, porcupine and small rodents.
This is also a perfect life for a dog.  Oliver is our Weimaraner rescue dog, that is, I rescued my daughter from his craziness.  Oliver is best described as an ADHD Olympic athlete, muscles rippling as he runs across the prairie.  He has boundless energy, an explorer of every smell and animal track.  He often corners a rabbit or small animal in a hollow log or irrigation pipe, working for hours to extract his prey. 
In case you are imagining this perfect artist life as one of beautiful sunsets, winding trails and glowing grasses, you are correct.  There is another side to nature however, a side that reflects the shadow and darker side of existence and here Oliver is also a reminder of the fullness of life.