"Tough sledding"

They say in Alaska, that there are two seasons. Winter and tough sledding. Somehow that seems to be fitting this year for me. I am still decompressing from the fly-in, and feeling a bit like a loose end that has no direction or real goal in mind. I've had a lot to do since the fly-in, attempting to get the house back in shape, and trying to find some place to hunt poor ole Hope. Tiger has developed a resistance to his medication, so trips to Nampa, to the Vet for new medication. ( He is better now, and back to his old self)  Then needing to go to Burns to visit my Lady. It seems as though I am constantly on the go, mostly in circles. Perhaps today was a turning point, where-in my brain has had a chance to adjust to reality.

My main problem seems to center around not having enough time to do all the things that need to be done. Hawking is one of the things that has been kicking my butt this year. There just aren't enough Jack Rabbits for a quick hunt, so that I can move on to other things. All of my spots that seemed to carry enough of a population to make a drive of 40 minutes to get to them worth while, have come up empty.

https://vimeo.com/291603854     no password required.

This was one of my best spots in the past. The poor girl was so desperate to find something to eat that a Mylar balloon looked good. ( Just imagine where this abortion came from, and the little kids hopes and dreams that turned it into my garbage) I went to three different spots on this day trying to find something to chase. We came home empty handed.

I started out today, here at the house, since there is little reason to drive for 40 miles and have no more Rabbits there than I have here. I covered at least a couple of miles flushing about 5 Rabbits, all of which outsmarted Hope. I was sitting on my butt in the dirt and stickers, (one of which ended up in my butt) waiting for Hope to regain her strength after a rather long fruitless flight, thinking about why I was so unsettled in my mind.

It came to me that there is little reason that I cannot spend all day wandering around the country side for as long as I need. I have no one to answer to as to where I am, or what I am doing. Hope surely would rather spend the day out of the weathering area. If she doesn't eat now, surely the chance to catch something will come along if we spend enough time for an opportunity to arise. Besides since I am old enough that anyone other than a poor ole Rancher, or a Falconer, would be sitting in a rocking chair waiting to die. All that fruitless exercise is obviously good for me. I might as well open my eyes to the beauty of the land and the things that give rise to the mental exercise of imagining the reason that this "wagon" was made.

Or what epitaph followed this event.

So today I vowed to slow down, take every thing in its own time in a deliberate manner, and enjoy what I have left to me in this new reality.