I had been a longtime animal rights proponent, and though Yoga poses difficult I was completely opposed to my father’s boyhood ritual of hunting wild game, I assisted his Yoga poses difficult adventure anyway. He had already traveled near and far for bear, pheasant, wild duck, elk, and deer for the whole of my life. I remember endless trips on which my sisters and I would accompany him to remote locations and sit and wait quietly while he was stalking some poor creature. It was such a part of him, like his smoking, that it was impossible to convince him that there was anything at all wrong with it. I think that what he most enjoyed about it was the silence. He was a quiet man, and being outdoors was a mission of sorts. Whether or nor I understood or agreed with hunting, it somehow allowed him to commune with nature and with his deceased father, who had passed the sport along when my father was a boy. What he didn’t realize was that the journey was more important than the goal.
