11/26/2006
Fall Colors
Today was the last day of our 'first split'. It was about 75 degrees and sunny, a true Bluebird day, but I went anyway. It's been a slow week. We've seen a lot of coots, a few Bluebills, some grebe and a coon (he's been seen on 2 occasions in the same spot).
The slow start to the season has givin' me a lot to think about and observe.
One thing I've thought about is that I'm like a fish out of water, being a recent transplant to Florida, this is the first season I've hunted here. It's different than what I'm used to. I'm used to flat water impoundments and river hunting, down here, the rivers are different, they open into salt flats and there are a lot of nooks and crannies to get turned around in (Thank goodness for GPS tracking) and then it opens up into the bay (Which can appear very peaceful...but turn on you quickly)
The second is that no matter how much we don't want it to, time keeps moving on. Colors change from spring to summer to fall and on to winter (for most of the country this is true...for here in Florida, fall foliage = 3 trees turning red). But, it's true for our dogs and for us too (My back and knees will agree with that). While sitting in the tall grass, watching fish jump and coots swim, I had a lot of time to sit and pet Laurie. The way the sun illuminated her face today allowed me to see her in a 'new light'. The light showed a lot of white hairs on her face, between her eyes, a lot of white hairs down the fronts of her legs, many framing the edges of her ears. I had to ask myself how old she was and after a few minutes of arguing with myself I came to the conclusion that she turned 8 earlier this year and yes, the white hairs are telling me that she's entering the fall season of her life. I lost a great one, a special one, this past Easter, in the early fall of his life and there are others waiting in the wings, but Laurie is something special, she's been my dog since she was 7 weeks old, she's been my girl, she's been here for the birth of both of my children, she's had 3 litters and weaned every one of the 33 pups that she had. She's spent a lot of time with me as I've shot a few birds, as I've missed more than my share and as I've wasted a lot of shells and she's spent a lot of quiet time with me as I reflected...and it continues. With luck, she'll be with me for many more years, with luck we'll actually get into some ducks during the second part of our season. Each 'season' of their lives is special, although I don't look forward to the 'winter' of their lives, it is just as important as the spring.
Good luck with your journey through the seasons.
About the Author:
Cray Stephenson lives in Milton, Fl with his wife Michelle Stephenson, DVM and their 2 sons, Patrick and Kelton. Together they own and operate Creighton Kennels Hunting Retrievers; a breeding and training facility dedicated to improving our hunting retriever breeds.
He was a founding member and Vice President of the Central Kentucky Hunting Retriever Association (http://www.ckhra.us), Has been active in the Hunting Retriever Club, the Super Retriever Series (http://www.superretrieverseries.com/) as both a judge and a handler and was one of only four judges chosen for the Inaugural World Retriever Championship (http://www.worldretrieverchampionship.com) in Oxford, MS, March 2005.
Cray can be reached at 850-983-0943, http://www.creightonkennels.net and contacted via email at patchio@bellsouth.net
a Special thanks to Avery Outdoors (http://www.averyoutdoors.com/)
