It would be remiss of me not to make note of the date of 9/11 etched on all of our memories.  I lost a friend on Flight 93, Tom Burnett.  Tom was the Chief Operating Officer of a small West Coast Medical Device company called Thoratec.  He had been a candidate and lastly a client whom I met the night beforehand in Boston for an early dinner.  Tom told me he hoped to get on an earlier flight home the following day.  I got a late flight back to Newark and thought little more of our meeting.
 
Recordings later, showed Tom was one of the passengers who stormed the cockpit and said “lets roll”.   During the days that followed, the Princeton Post Office was in lock down as various letters had been found to contain a mysterious white powder, and the suggestion was Anthrax.  So it was some weeks later I received a letter in a plastic bag from the Post Office to my work.  I opened it gingerly to find a Thank You card from Tom, posted from his hotel the morning he caught that doomed flight.
 
Why am I sharing this with you, you may ask, but Tom liked to be a bit daring in his life and in some ways Fox Hunting can be just that.  Today, one of our Supporters Angie came out Hunting for the first time.  She had watched us leave several times and decided it looked wonderful.  So she leased an old horse, took English Riding Lessons, bought some basic clothes, borrowed tack and here she was.  Admittedly looking somewhat green around the gills!
 
The morning started out with high humidity and I’m sure that led to a small field of five in First Flight, and six in Second and Mr Farrin brought out 16 ½ couple of hounds.  As we left the meet, Master Cindy trotted off to lead the field around the far side of a stand of corn at Mr. Jack Kanack’s farm, when a huge buck jumped out and bounced off the fence.  Ponder (Cindy’s Horse) and Mowgli (mine) both spun round in alarm, but somehow we both stayed on, nervously giggled and off we went.   Well that got my heart racing!
 
The hounds worked three stands of corn and clearly there were foxes in abundance, hounds split several times leaving our Whips to race around a bit.  Richard who was whipping on Manners Road radioed that a fox had crossed the road in front of him.  Off we went at a clip and hounds worked the corn on the opposite side of the road, clearly catching the scent.  While we galloped off alongside the field of sunflowers, now left to seed, the Second Flight led by Master Stephen elected to stay exactly where they were and watch events unfolding below them.
 
We then headed along the road and entered Mr. Ribbon’s land where the hounds paddled in the small pond and cooled off.  We moved off and Mr. Farrin collected hounds and worked more corn stands.  By this time we had been out 90 mins, hounds had worked hard running through the corn.   We returned to Mr. Kanack’s land, allowing hounds to drink and cool off in the stream before we headed back for a Pot Luck breakfast.  The humidity had been replaced by a slight and welcomed breeze and the view from the hillside was stunning, a few herons and an egret flying overhead and the corn having turned yellow as the leaves started to die off.  It was time to head home.
 
I asked Angie her thoughts about her first hunt.  She went silent for a bit thinking and then said she loved the fact that everyone in Second Flight had been so wonderfully welcoming and were keen to share advice and a few horror stories of things that have happened to them over the years.  Then broke into a huge grin and said, “well it seems hunting makes me feel alive!”   Aren’t we all glad we feel this way on this particular anniversary.
 
Cheryl B

We had watched the weather report religiously all week, which up until the Sunday of the Picnic had been rather dismal.  Of course this created much behind the scenes debate – should we cancel or not?  But with the Pig Roast, Chairs and Tables and everything else paid for and no hope of a refund, we pressed on hoping against hope the Hurricane Hermione would head out to sea.
 
Saturday saw hunting from the Nance’s Farm and Master Cindy led the first flight of nine of us, and Master Stephen the second flight of eight.  Mr. Farrin had 18 ½ couple of hounds that guided by our Whips Masters Joanne and Brian, Lisa and her ladies (Robin and Tina) worked for three and half hours to catch some scent.  However, the weather was really strange, with an eerie stillness, and apart from one hawk even the usual songbirds that tend to fly along the hedgerows with us were absent.  It felt like the prelude to a mighty storm.   The only real sound came from various members of the First Flights excitement when jumping several of the new and very inviting jumps on Cindy’s Farm. It is rumored that second flight did see a fox leaping out of the corn running towards Back Brook as the hounds worked the corn by Barbara Hays farm.      
 
We returned to the Meet and had a very tasty breakfast supplied by Master Joanne and Erica, and after munching those that were out helped put up the tents, laid out the chairs ready for the picnic.  At that point while my 2 weather aps said clear skies, the men tied down tents as though their lives depended on it. 
 
Sunday- The Picnic.   Waking to clear skies, light winds and sun seemed incredible especially when Gov. Christie had declared the State of NJ under a National Emergency. I always knew the Amwell Valley was an enclave of paradise, and what further proof does one need? 
 
The tents had stayed up, food arrived, the Band strummed their first numbers, the Trap Shoot Team were practicing, Karen Sergeant checked the microphone for the Bingo and Master Cindy had groomed her garden area with mulch, flowers and blades of grass standing to attention!  By 2pm we were ready for our landowners to arrive.  Gradually they came, about 150 guests, including nearly all of our Major Landowners, Mr. and Mrs. Greg Manners, the Du Fosse family, and many others whose land we touch upon on our way.
 
This year the honor of the Dessert Judging had been passed to our newest Masters, Cindy and Brian, who clearly enjoyed the tasting.