opening day

Usually, the end of October started a flurry of activity - checking all the gear, supplies and treats, those that would survive the day in a pack. Pastries from Starbucks rarely fit the description but they were somehow always plentiful. The things that were normally stored away for the other 9 months of the year were carefully checked for operation and blaze garments rewashed and dried ready for use. Everything was laid out and matched against a checklist to make sure nothing was forgotten and loaded into the truck the night before. The first Saturday in November was opening day.

It was never easy getting ready because Starbuck knew what it meant.  Certain shapes and colors (yes, blue-yellow spectrum for most dogs, blaze orange for the Buckster) were immediate clues to Starbuck and he would get barking excited. Holding a finger up w/ "shhh!" would only make things worse; it was then to be treated like a secret, like SBtv.

Therefore, most of the preparation needed to be done, really, in secrecy, while the Buckster was sleeping or in short bursts while he was outside. On occasion, he would be suspicious upon waking up or coming back in the house as everything, even secrets, have a scent. If everything worked out discretely, he was surprised on opening day and ready for a full day of fun, starting from the moment we pulled out of the driveway.

Being so excited to be out in his hunting area again, after a long 9 months, he ranged far. His first birds up were usually well out of range. In the picture (you can't see him but trust me), he is in the red square and the dotted line is the approximate trail he took to get there - in the time it took to get the camera out of my vest.

This year was very odd, the first without him on opening day; I didn't even remember that I used to look forward to preparing for it.

It came and went.

I plan to take his ashes out there, a bit later in the season, to take a look at the view again - at least one last time.