Looking Back And Looking Ahead

                                                       Looking back the setters and I certainly had a wonderful life together. Actually the experiences we had exceeded my imagination of what our time together would be like. As I look into the crystal ball that sits on my bedroom bureau it serves as a reminder to me that the future is only limited by my own imagination.

Mick taking a break west of the old windmill with Beau and Molly in the background. We started our sharptail season here for many years. Seeing 100 to 150 birds a day was common before CRP acres started to vanish. What a time we had!

                                                        As each dog passes I'm reminded that there are beginnings and endings always and that it's important to celebrate both. They are reminders of how to make the most of your time. The incredible experiences we remember and cherish in our lives always require the courage to make decisions to take the first steps on any journey. If I had done a cost analysis of what this journey would have cost me in real time and money from a practical view point it may have been easy to not write that check. But then what would I have had? For myself the question really was what is your life worth to you?

A wonderful place we hunted together in the foothills of the Bighorn mountains. Physically challenging but oh so breathtakingly beautiful! The setters were in the prime of their lives the years we hunted here. Just magnificent to have watched them against this vista.

                                                       The people who's lives have been interrupted by loss and hardship that just pick up and continue on their way are an inspiration to me as I look ahead now. I wonder then as I look into the eyes of the new pup watching me at my side what our life together will be like. Beautiful sun rises and sunsets. The passing of the seasons. Watching new life emerge. The comfort of a loyal companion. Tears of laughter. Tears of sorrow. That's the cycle of life. The setters passing reminded me to again understand and embrace it not turn my back on it.

Molly. The queen of the castle!

                                                       The reason I'm writing is so I'll never forget what it felt like to follow not just my beautiful trio of setters but my own heart. I have been lucky to have been able to spend much of my life where I needed to be for the most part. As I look back then it startles me sometimes to now know how important that really was. Looking ahead it makes my path an easy one to choose. Just follow that dog!