A few weeks ago, my brother and I hunted turkey Opening Day in the Missouri Ozarks as we have been doing for the past 40 years.
Unfortunately, there was a cold rain at daybreak. That meant that the turkeys were probably still at home drinking coffee and deciding whether to venture out or stay in bed, just like we were tempted to do.
The good news, I pointed out, is that if we did not go out in the rain, at least we would not have to clean a turkey, which these days is becoming more of an unwelcome chore the older we get.
But despite the rain, my brother, King, now 88 years old, still wanted to go out there and hump those wet Ozark hills for no apparent reason.
Traditions make you do the darnedest things sometimes. As he says, “You’ll never know if you don’t go.”
