John Burchett's Bluetick Gracie on the Tug Fork River

I hope that Mr. Runyon does not mind me lifting a picture of Mr. John Burchett's Bluetick (Gracie) on the Tug Fork River in West Virginia. He posted it on the Friends of the Tug Fork River Facebook page. I tell readers to go there and "like" that page and support their work because it means so much to so many people, animals, and the environment. Please do that.

All of that said, I'm posting this because I look forward to seeing photos of Gracie on the Tug Fork every day. There is something about Mr. Runyon's photos and short daily blurbs about the Tug Fork that reaches right to my heart. And I remember the first time I looked at a Bluetick about eye-to-eye and knew that those dogs have a special presence and intelligence and how I loved hearing their chopping and bawling in the night. Those were spiritual steps for me because I felt connected to creation in ways that I had never been connected before.

The power of that connection has stayed with me. I'm 2800 miles from the Tug Fork now but this photo touches me in a place within that I cannot name. But that connection holds me and gives me hope over the miles. I might blush to talk about it face-to-face. Some things are better kept in the heart, but maybe you're also one of the people who has loved a dog and the land and a river.