Hunters with a Flashlight
Old-timers had to be scavengers to survive. They lived off the land, finding joy in discovering a May flower hidden by a cluster of leaves or a special fishing hole or nuts raining down from a walnut tree in a forgotten field.
Writers are like that. We scavenge for story ideas in faraway or overlooked spots. We’re hunters holding a flashlight, hoping to illuminate a hidden gem, or travesty, or hero.
Long before dawn, I took our Staf/hound dog/pit best friend for a walk and both of us paid attention to the treasures our flashlight illuminated, objects I never notice in the full light of day: an oddly shaped rock, a culvert, crooked branches whose leaves turn silver in a shimmering beam of light. Inspiration for dog and writer.
