Just some thoughts and notes

As odd as it may seem I have still not reached a decision on whether to write something about Ted’s misadventure or to just let it die. By write something I am referring to my small literary journal, The Pines Review. Perhaps I should just let that dog go to sleep. He’s paid his fine and we’ve had our share of troubles so adding to the pile doesn’t make any sense. The flip side comes from my training as a journalist and years of working as a journalist, both freelance and staff. On that side I am telling myself it is a duty to write on what happened even if my journal is published months after the incident. I’m still thinking about it and will probably think about it for most of the week while I finish this issue.

Other news of note. Our dove season is open and I have not stepped into a field. For some reason my feeble brain was thinking it opened this coming weekend—on the eleventh! Okay, I am stupid but not for much longer. Cookie and I will be making up for lost time starting tomorrow!
Last week I took Cookie into the vet’s office for her annual checkup and shots. She is a dog that always pleases me because she is so sweet and well behaved in public. There was less than a pound’s difference in her weight from her last visit and as always she sat quietly while she got her shots then the vet and her assistant fawned over Cookie, asking if she was ready to go hunting. I cringed because “hunting” is a word that sets Cookie off. This time all she did was begin to wag her tail. Then the vet said “bird” and Cookie was no longer sitting but standing and looking around the sterile room as if to ask “how could there be a bird in here?” I was pleased because Cookie pleased others.
In another week the sharptail season opens and the two of us will be beating the grass country for the birds. Over the years Cookie and I have had great times together hunting sharptail. I don’t know if it is because it is the first of the upland bird seasons and Cookie is working off all the stored up energy or just her joy of life, but she plows through the grass with a gusto that I truly love to watch. I suppose that in some ways the bird hunting season is so special because I’ve had wonderful dogs and many of my best memories are of the season. I’m looking forward to the weekend of the 18th and 19th when one of my best friends, and a new friend, will be hunting with me. I just hope I can put them in the birds. Well, put them where the birds are, the dogs will do the rest.
I hope everyone is having wonderful early seasons and getting ready for a great autumn. glg