Ian was a pointer, which meant that he pointed out things that his people would find worthwhile. Given that pointers are often called hunting dogs, that meant wild game.
Like all pointers, Ian took classes identifying animals that would make a good meal for a hunter. He learned, among other things, that a group of ducks on the water is called a raft (or a bunch or a paddling), and that a group of ducks on land is called a safe. He also learned that a group of geese on land is called a gaggle, and a group of geese in the air is called a skein (or a team, or a wedge). Then he learned that the group of foxes is called a skulk, that a group of turkeys is called a rafter, and that a group of pheasants is called a head or a nye.
In fact, Ian was superb at remembering the names of animals, and he was also superb at identifying them in visual tests. The trouble was, Ian just didn’t think they were all that interesting, and therefore proved to a be a washout on hunting expeditions. Though his person—a farmer named Owen—patted his head in the farmhouse, and though Owen’s son Shane hugged him and said he was the best dog in the world, he was quite sad, for he saw himself as a grave disappointment to his people.
At night, they would let him out, and he would look up at the sky, which always made him happy. He would look at Venus—the brightest thing in the sky next to the moon—and then find Jupiter and Saturn. From there he studied Mizor and Alkor, Alberio, the Andromeda Galaxy, the Triangula Galaxy, the Virgo Cluster, and countless other wonders in the sky.
Ian grew so infatuated with the stars, in fact, that he created charts, and recorded the changes in the constellations from week to week. And when Owen set up a telescope one evening to show Shane the night sky, Ian surprised them both by pointing out one celestial wonder after the next. Sighting along his back and snout, Owen pointed the telescope from The Dumbell Nebula to The Hercules Cluster to the large and small Magellenic clouds to dozens of other places, turning a session of amateur stargazing into a fascinating father and son tour of the night sky.
Word of Ian’s stargazing brilliance spread, and people flocked to the farm with binoculars and telescopes, often purchasing Owen’s fresh produce as well. Soon Owen’s town because a tourist attraction, and the residents voted to change their town’s name to Canis Victor.
And in front of the planetarium that they built in the center of town, they installed a statue of Ian standing atop the key celestial body in the Canis Victor constellation: Sirius, the dog star.
Like all pointers, Ian took classes identifying animals that would make a good meal for a hunter. He learned, among other things, that a group of ducks on the water is called a raft (or a bunch or a paddling), and that a group of ducks on land is called a safe. He also learned that a group of geese on land is called a gaggle, and a group of geese in the air is called a skein (or a team, or a wedge). Then he learned that the group of foxes is called a skulk, that a group of turkeys is called a rafter, and that a group of pheasants is called a head or a nye.
In fact, Ian was superb at remembering the names of animals, and he was also superb at identifying them in visual tests. The trouble was, Ian just didn’t think they were all that interesting, and therefore proved to a be a washout on hunting expeditions. Though his person—a farmer named Owen—patted his head in the farmhouse, and though Owen’s son Shane hugged him and said he was the best dog in the world, he was quite sad, for he saw himself as a grave disappointment to his people.
At night, they would let him out, and he would look up at the sky, which always made him happy. He would look at Venus—the brightest thing in the sky next to the moon—and then find Jupiter and Saturn. From there he studied Mizor and Alkor, Alberio, the Andromeda Galaxy, the Triangula Galaxy, the Virgo Cluster, and countless other wonders in the sky.
Ian grew so infatuated with the stars, in fact, that he created charts, and recorded the changes in the constellations from week to week. And when Owen set up a telescope one evening to show Shane the night sky, Ian surprised them both by pointing out one celestial wonder after the next. Sighting along his back and snout, Owen pointed the telescope from The Dumbell Nebula to The Hercules Cluster to the large and small Magellenic clouds to dozens of other places, turning a session of amateur stargazing into a fascinating father and son tour of the night sky.
Word of Ian’s stargazing brilliance spread, and people flocked to the farm with binoculars and telescopes, often purchasing Owen’s fresh produce as well. Soon Owen’s town because a tourist attraction, and the residents voted to change their town’s name to Canis Victor.
And in front of the planetarium that they built in the center of town, they installed a statue of Ian standing atop the key celestial body in the Canis Victor constellation: Sirius, the dog star.
