[ARDF] Best ARDF Wishes

[cscharlau at earthlink.net]

Warmest holiday greetings to all my fellow foxhunters. As a gift I offer the
following verses...

Call of the Fox

Hark the forest's beckon call;
its source is unbeknownst to all.
Concealed by hills, and limbs of pine,
it beseeches softly: come and find.

Too briefly did the signal tarry;
reflections do the treetops carry;
westward it did point me last,
but will the forest let me pass?

With map and aerial I seek a course:
the quickest passage to the source.
>From north and west I now opine,
wafts the missive: come and find.

Silent now, the caller rests.
No hint betrays its secret nest.
None can know how far or near,
save those who seek and persevere.

Through pleasant meadow, past sullen stream;
I note the bearings, hoist my beam.
The trail extends before, behind;
how strong it shouts: come and find.

Again the caller leaves the air,
up the hillock I rush to snare,
an utterance from a lofty perch:
a decisive bearing to end my search.

The minutes pass, and still I seek,
to gain the unobstructed peak.
When silent seconds at last unwind,
it nearly deafens: come and find!

Before it ends its deafening cry,
beneath a tree the flag I spy.
There lies the source of siren's sound,
and I proclaim: I went! I found!

-NZØI