October 18, 2016 (292/366)

"Hunting wasn't a just sport. It was a way to be intimate with nature." - Ted Kerasote

My dad was the ultimate outdoorsman. He loved hunting, fishing, camping, boating -- anything that enabled him to commune with nature. I never really understood the allure of the hunt, but I always respected Dad's love of nature; and, of course, I doted on the labradors and beagles that joined our family to help Dad hunt ducks and rabbits respectively. Dad would have loved Piper -- she's supposed to be a rabbit dog (and she love that too), but these days, her favorite sport is "duck hunting."