A long way from lost...

"Don't you have birds in Texas?"
"How long have you been doing this?"
"Are you lost?"

Just a few of the most common questions we've encountered on Kali's epic odyssey.  A very very small percentage of the folks who ask actually grasp the notion of such an undertaking.  After a brief pause you can almost see them traveling off somewhere on their own journey in their minds, envisioning the adventure and excitement of the pursuit whether it's fish, birds, pie, beer, antiques, filming locations, or state shot glasses for a collection.
The majority however, say something nondescript like "huh" or shake their head in something between contempt and curiosity.  I'm way past trying to explain it to folks that may have never left their home state.  There are certainly a lot more compelling, even rational reasons to never undertake such a quest - fortunately I was quick to overlook them.
On Monday, November 9, 2015 around 8:45 a.m. we turned Kali loose on the Indian Springs WMA just northwest of Clear Springs, MD.  It's a pretty property with nice quail cover in the hollers and grouse habitat up on the ridges.  Morning was crisp and clear.

We worked the cover a while and when Kali declared "all clear" I sat on a rock with her in my lap and took just a moment to reflect on a little dog that has hunted in all 49 continental United States, plus 8 Canadian provinces, been north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Border Fence.
If there's another dog that's ever accomplished that, I sure can't find any reference to it.
She's made fans across the country as much for her loveable personality and character as her hunting drive, persistence and prowess.  Always ready to lick someone's hand, ride in their truck seat or sleep on their motel bed.  Willing to try anything that resembles bacon or beef, plus a few other options.
And able, far more by the grace of God than anything I taught, to jump out of a high-mileage truck, take a quick look around at the environment, and go figure out how to find birds, whether it's in snow on the Continental Divide, high desert, thick forests, open prairies and fields, or swamp land.

As Call carved about Deets, "Cheerful in all weathers, Never shirked a task."

Lost???
Never been there...

I was born under a wandrin' star...