Fall and Winter

The first day I see a yellow or red leaf blowing south down the street I start to feel more alive. For my entire life, each year I have looked forward to the coming of cold weather. As a child it meant Halloween, Thanksgiving and Santa Claus. As I got a little older, it meant football season and the holidays and hunting season. Now that I am an old man it means the arthritic joints will ache, my hands and feet will lose another few layers of skin, my frozen ears will swell and burn as they thaw, my eyes will water and become raw from the cold wind.

But the ducks will come.

Seeing and hearing that first flock of migrating Canada Geese, spotting the first raft of Bluebills on the river, frost on the ground, ice along the banks of the marshes, the duck hunters life begins anew.

How many mornings have I eased down a frosty boat ramp? How many decoys have I set out? How many high brass #5's have I fed into my 870? How many times have I pulled off an already wet glove to take a duck from my dog? How many times have I made a loop on my strap to hold another duck? How many times have I poured a lidfull of lukewarm coffee from my old metal thermos? How many reeds and pine limbs have I cut to cover the blind? How many times have I patched up my waders? How many times have I tried to position the dog just right, to get a good picture of the day's hunt? How many nights have I stood alone in the cold water, winding decoys cords with cold, stiff hands? How many long drives home trying to stay awake? How many feathers have I plucked from my birds? How many times have I watched my dog laying down by his food pan, almost too tired to eat his supper? How many strokes of the cleaning rod, how many swipes with an oily rag for my trusted shotgun? How many lunches have I packed for the next day? How many extra minutes sleep did I miss; drying gloves and waders? How many nights have I lain in bed saying my prayers with the flutter of duck wings behind my closed eyelids?

How many more days do I have to enjoy the wonders of Fall and Winter?

Not enough.