I've been making an annual trek back to southern Wisconsin in June to visit family and friends for several years now. It's always refreshing coming from the plains states to this area of much higher annual rainfall as you can just feel the lush greenery that surrounds you everywhere you look. So after our spring chores were done around the yard we headed east once again to get in a visit before the flowers bloom at home.
On most visits at this time of year I try to stop in rural southwestern Wisconsin to visit my friends Tom and Mary at their Sand Hill farm. They bought this place in the mid seventies typical of farmsteads at that time with old buildings and a house that had served out most of it's useful years on 80 acres. However the setting is breath taking with both high and low ground and a spectacular ridge with old growth pines serving as sentinels of the valley. Home to white tail deer, turkeys and upland birds there's also a beautiful trout creek just across the road that winds through the valley to the south.
On this day my son Carson and I stopped to visit and enjoyed a cup of coffee with our old friends and they're weekend guests.The Setters were along resting in the air conditioned comfort of the van as the late morning temperature was already in the upper 70's. Everyone was then headed out after coffee for a walk through the property. Carson was going to walk down to the trout stream with his fly rod so I let the Setters out and quickly realized the heat was going to be to much for Molly now struggling with a tumor putting pressure on her right lung. I settled her in the shade and stayed behind with Mary as the crew headed off on the walking trails on this beautiful day.
Over the years Tom and Mary together have built a new house over looking the valley and planted thousands upon thousands of trees transforming this property into a post card vision of Wisconsin. We walked around looking at plantings and discussed the phenomenon of the sweet spot. That being finding just the right place for a plant species to grow and thrive. Mary has a gift for this as I pointed out several plants I had seen the year before now growing vigorously. But the subject of the "Sweet spot" stuck in my mind as this entire property is just that for my friends who have now put 40 years of their lives into making it what it is today. A place for them to thrive and experience all life has to offer.
We all need these places but they are different for each of us. It starts with a vision and an intuitiveness that draws us to them. Then once we're home as it were we embrace these places and are inspired by what they represent to us. Our lives are transformed by them and we in turn transform the places forever leaving our mark on the landscape in various ways.
Just a few years after my friends moved to their "sweet spot" I found mine 8 miles away to the northwest also in the rolling hill country of southwest Wisconsin. That place with a long lane a beautiful valley and a trout stream not far away was where the Setters were raised. It was certainly a "sweet spot" for young pups as we had a small wild pheasant population in the surrounding area and I kept quail and pigeons year round for all of our entertainment! The Setters tirelessly stalked the pigeons until they retreated back to their coop and kept vigil on the quail pen as part of the daily ritual.
I was drawn to this place. This "sweet spot". But as time went by and we traveled on our annual hunting trips to the western plains states I was enamored with the vision of my bird dogs casting about and coming to point in the wide open spaces. It was a beautiful and again inspiring experience that brought me a new vision and my intuition subsequently led me to yet another place. A new "sweet spot". The place we had called home for 30 plus years was now a barrier to where I now needed to be. With the Setters approaching their prime I realized I may never have the chance to train and develop a team of bird dogs with this potential again. I knew this journey I now found myself on was special. These Setters were all exceptional hunters. Beautiful animals and trusted companions. So we left that place where it all started and embraced a new spot in the bird country of North Dakota.
Several years into our journey together in this new "sweet spot" I have no regrets about moving on. No feelings of wanting to go back. Only the need to move forward seeking out the next "sweet spot".
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Extra Time
It comes every 4 years and we really enjoyed this summers number one watched sporting event. The World Cup soccer tournament. Living in rural North Dakota where kids have never played a game of soccer let alone even watched an event like the World Cup before I found myself again as an outsider. Different somehow. Nine man football is the only game here you see. Parents have inquired about soccer as a school sport but were quickly and politely told that with difficulty having enough students to play existing sports we will not be able to add anything new that might take away from participation in those sports. Sorry kids! What would it hurt to use soccer as a recreation sport and activity during physical education I thought? But no the only and I mean the only activity I have ever seen on the playground is Kick Ball where most of the participants stand idle and the at bat team sits on the bench waiting their turn to kick along with the over weight Phy Ed teacher supervising. I only shake my head at this spectacle of close mindedness as I walk by the school with the Setter's during the spring and fall month's.
So about extra time. My neighbor and I while talking on the deck discussed several times the differences between football and soccer. While not a fan he understands the games basic premise and remarked about the level of fitness required at the World Cup level of play. But he kept coming back to the issue of time keeping and just couldn't get over the Referee controlling the stoppage time as they do in soccer then adding it as extra time at the end of the game. So without getting into depth about the reasons the system works as it does actually enhancing the play and keeping the game moving we had a few laughs about this phenomenon called "extra time".
Later I thought about my life with the Setter's and that we are now in what you would call that very place and period of time together. Even myself at age 61 hearing almost every week about an acquaintance or someone in town having serious health challenges find the term "extra time" more fitting than retirement! The Setter's are all in their 12th year as well. Most dog's who have traveled and hunted as much as we have across the country don't make it that long. Extra time indeed.
Living in the moment is so important as no one knows what's left on the clock. There is no Referee. No added time. There will be no whistle blown. I must say I have absolutely no regrets about how I've played this game with the Setters. They were raised on a secluded rural property where I kept birds for them year round. We spent 4 to 6 weeks traveling western states the first few year's until it just wasn't enough. This experience with such beautiful dog's I realized was a once in a lifetime chance to do this dance. I knew these Setters and the experience I was in the middle of was something really special. So right smack in the middle of their prime we moved to bird country and didn't look back as there was only our time together going forward that mattered.
Fast forward 7 years and these summer days of extra time I'm so grateful for. I sit with Molly on the back porch with my arm around her as she watches the doves fly in and around the yard. Most days Mick rides to the post office with me in his spot riding shotgun in the jeep. He melts my heart when he looks over at me with his big brown eyes as I remember all the times and places we've been. When I sit on the couch he soon follows laying his head in my lap with one paw hanging over my leg claiming me as his. At age 12 he still has the same playful nature and look in his eyes. Beau will then take the opposite side and follows me everywhere inside and out as if he knows we're in extra time and doesn't want to miss a moment together! He's very vocal and calls to me with his howl when he wants something. He wants me inside when he eats and will bother me until I put food in all their bowls every morning. He's a very special dog with a unique combination of size, beauty,athleticism, and gentleness. At night he comes to the side of the bed and looks at me to let me know he's there only then does he lie down right beside the bed. There are many many more nuances of behavior I experience with them every day and appreciate that are just priceless.
As I end this post the sun has been up for an hour on another day of our time together. I know It'll always be a good day as long as we're together. I've learned so much from living with them it's hard to explain but I can say that living in the present and seizing opportunity's before you in life would be high on the list. So these days now I've taken to reading or napping right on the floor with the Setters which they especially like. It makes me feel closer to them and one of my ways of enjoying every second of our "Extra Time".
So about extra time. My neighbor and I while talking on the deck discussed several times the differences between football and soccer. While not a fan he understands the games basic premise and remarked about the level of fitness required at the World Cup level of play. But he kept coming back to the issue of time keeping and just couldn't get over the Referee controlling the stoppage time as they do in soccer then adding it as extra time at the end of the game. So without getting into depth about the reasons the system works as it does actually enhancing the play and keeping the game moving we had a few laughs about this phenomenon called "extra time".
Later I thought about my life with the Setter's and that we are now in what you would call that very place and period of time together. Even myself at age 61 hearing almost every week about an acquaintance or someone in town having serious health challenges find the term "extra time" more fitting than retirement! The Setter's are all in their 12th year as well. Most dog's who have traveled and hunted as much as we have across the country don't make it that long. Extra time indeed.
Living in the moment is so important as no one knows what's left on the clock. There is no Referee. No added time. There will be no whistle blown. I must say I have absolutely no regrets about how I've played this game with the Setters. They were raised on a secluded rural property where I kept birds for them year round. We spent 4 to 6 weeks traveling western states the first few year's until it just wasn't enough. This experience with such beautiful dog's I realized was a once in a lifetime chance to do this dance. I knew these Setters and the experience I was in the middle of was something really special. So right smack in the middle of their prime we moved to bird country and didn't look back as there was only our time together going forward that mattered.
Fast forward 7 years and these summer days of extra time I'm so grateful for. I sit with Molly on the back porch with my arm around her as she watches the doves fly in and around the yard. Most days Mick rides to the post office with me in his spot riding shotgun in the jeep. He melts my heart when he looks over at me with his big brown eyes as I remember all the times and places we've been. When I sit on the couch he soon follows laying his head in my lap with one paw hanging over my leg claiming me as his. At age 12 he still has the same playful nature and look in his eyes. Beau will then take the opposite side and follows me everywhere inside and out as if he knows we're in extra time and doesn't want to miss a moment together! He's very vocal and calls to me with his howl when he wants something. He wants me inside when he eats and will bother me until I put food in all their bowls every morning. He's a very special dog with a unique combination of size, beauty,athleticism, and gentleness. At night he comes to the side of the bed and looks at me to let me know he's there only then does he lie down right beside the bed. There are many many more nuances of behavior I experience with them every day and appreciate that are just priceless.
As I end this post the sun has been up for an hour on another day of our time together. I know It'll always be a good day as long as we're together. I've learned so much from living with them it's hard to explain but I can say that living in the present and seizing opportunity's before you in life would be high on the list. So these days now I've taken to reading or napping right on the floor with the Setters which they especially like. It makes me feel closer to them and one of my ways of enjoying every second of our "Extra Time".
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