Rick told me of a trip to a trial in Alberta he and Robin made back when they were getting started with just a few shooting dogs in their strings. The trial had stakes in every open category and they ended up with winners or placements in all except the Derby. They were feeling good about it. Robin had been talking on the way out west about how he felt constant pressure to uphold the Gates name and reputation.
After the Alberta good fortune Robin called his mother from the motel room to report. Rick listened in. Robin recounted all their placements proudly. Then Mrs. Gates asked, “What did y’all do in the Derby?”
Silence, then “We did not place in the Derby.”
“Y’all need to get back to camp and get to work,” Mrs. Gates said, and hung up. Reality had returned.
This is beautiful. What separates us’uns from The Great Ones