April Snow at Cabin

 

Tax Day

Good morning, today is a gift but it is not Christmas. It looks like winter. 30° and inches of wet snow covering everything. Three deer bedded next to the cabin and they were surprised when I bolted out the door. I made them find a new place to lay. The Old Man is a little quiet and not himself this morning. I heard him talking to Mom on the phone. She was at a grandson’s baseball game last night. 

The Cabin is a two hour snooze to the north of home. The Old Man and I spend a lot of time here hunting birds, fishing and hiking. Sometimes Mom shows up and we go on new hikes in new woods. 

The Old Man did a ten mile run yesterday. He did well. Kept me moving. I pointed a couple of Timber Doodles and chased up a few Jake Turkeys. We didn’t see another human. The Old Man likes that.  

The Cabin is like a human dog house. One room with a ladder that goes to the Old Man’s bed. I get the reclining couch. The Old Man likes to drink his coffee and read his books in the morning. I curl up next to him. Quality time. Usually we get out for a walk right away but he is slow today. I’m a little slow this morning also. Lots of long hikes this past week and not a lot of naps. I’m sure the snow has made him quiet. Hope we get to take the Chariot for a ride. I can get a nice nap in. 

Gus is my cabin friend and lives down the driveway with his human, John. When I was a pup I went to visit Gus and found some birds at his house that I had been smelling. One was a mean old rooster that needed his ass kicked. I was young and dumb and ready for to kick. Oh, what fun! I took that rooster back to the Old Man. He was instantly angry. I decided to head into the woods  and finish him off. The Old Man tried calling me back but I knew better. The Old Man and Buck came marching into the woods and found me. They sat down and started playing around. Back in the day I was very jealous of Gus and did not like the Old Man giving him all the attention. I dropped the rooster and ran over to play. Click went the leash on my collar. The Old Man picked up the rooster and I was put in my kennel. I never did see, smell or hear that rooster again. The Old Man made him disappear. He walked me over to Gus’s and I had to apologize to John. John forgave me, but the Old Man kept me close. I’m not allowed to visit Gus unsupervised. 

I got a new collar the next week. It beeps after I don’t listen to the Old Man whistle. If I don’t head back after a beep it tickles my throat but I don’t laugh. If I don’t feel the tickle it buzzes my throat. It is not funny. I am pretty good at hearing the Old Man whistle and the beep. Not my favorite collar, unless the Old Man brings out the Boom Stick. Then we get to chase birds in the woods. I find the birds, I try to show them to the Old Man, then make the birds fly. He bangs away at them so they get scared and fly faster and farther. Once in a while we get lucky and the bang is so loud it scares them out of the sky. I catch them. Most of the time I retrieve them for the Old Man, but on slow days I try keeping the bird for myself. Then I hear the beep and know we are not done. I even get pictures taken with the birds we kill. Fun days! I don’t understand why every day we can’t get birds. Mom tells the Old Man that if we could do something every day it wouldn’t be as much fun when we do get time to enjoy it. I really don’t understand that idea. Mom doesn’t chase birds with the boom stick to understand the pure pleasure of making birds fly and scaring them to death.

The Old Man is on the move. The coffee is off and cleaned up. The books put away and kitchen cleaned. Hmmm. Still no directions. I better stay close and follow along. I hate getting left behind. We are on the move. 

“Today is a gift, tomorrow is a mystery, yesterday is history. That is why today is the present”. -Eleanor Roosevelt