Being prepared

The US armed forces have slogans or sayings about their mission such as Semper Fidelis or “Always Faithful” which has been made famous by our very own Marine Corps. Other branches have their own mottos such as the U.S. Coast Guard’s Semper Paratus or “Always Ready." The U.S. Navy's unofficial motto is Semper Fortis or “Always Courageous” and these cannot ever be doubted as they all have long kept this nation safe from external threats.

But Ol’ Dutch does know of one particularly Latinish phrase that they seemed to have missed and that is Omnia Paratus or “prepared in all things or ready for anything." Official groups may have missed it, but I can tell you that Miss Trixie certainly fits that one to a tee.

Way back in the infancy of our relationship — you know that place where Trixie could not stand to be without me — I soon learned that preparedness was the order of the day no matter what we were going to do together.

I should have known she would be like that after I found out she led an expedition to Mt. Everest in that faraway nation home also to Shangri-la. It seems that she found it necessary to organize said activity and spent 80 days trying to breathe near the top of said mountain while doing so.

So, while I do understand that organization obviously was paramount in importance of anything of that magnitude and difficulty, having a complete medical kit, food, water, rain clothes and Plan B for a date seemed like maybe just a bit too much to “Spur of the Moment Ol’ Dutch."  Some would define me as idiomatic but that sounds mighty close to idiot and Ol’ Dutch resembles that remark.

One of our first real dates was going on a bear hunt and I have related that story here in these pages in the past. We did get a bear, unbelievably, but almost missed the entire hunt while she packed to go. We had everything needed to spend a month on the mountain. Not all bad, except we were always only about a quarter mile from the truck. Just a little bit of overkill for this mountain man.

Now I do have to admit that Ol’ Dutch has gone out ill prepared more than once and my backpack has slowly been trimmed down to the bare minimum as my legs get older. And having cell service where I hunt does give me some feeling of safety or at least being able to call for help if needed.

But this is not Miss Trixie’s modus operandi as if we had to ever call search and rescue, they could use her supplies to do full on surgery including heart replacement on site.

This has caused a few forks in the road in our normally peaceful routine and the one that comes to mind is one time standing in the forest in pouring rain, her with full rain gear on and Ol’ Dutch getting soaked to the skin because mine was in the truck. The look in her eyes was one of sheer anger and unbelief as I stood in the rain laughing and giggling while she steamed. It was worth getting wet, let me tell you.

Ol’ Dutch has gradually grown used to Trixie’s preparing for the worst and I have learned to just get in the truck and patiently wait for her to show up to leave the house.

And nothing shows how well prepared we are like this past year as we faced the COVID-19 crisis. She has taken care of us well and it's a godsend although I really wish you would keep this kind of information to yourselves as she might get The Big Head.

Just last week was just such an opportunity to show how she is ready for anything when we went in for our Covid shot. Believe in the shot or not is not the story here, but rather Trixie's choice of outfit.

She wore a top with built-in holes, which effectively exposed the exact spot on her arm where to stick the vaccine. Yep, that's correct, Omnia Paratus Trixie. Always ready. She had planned what to wear to get the shot while Ol’ Dutch had tried to just remember to wear clean clothes and get himself and his coffee into the truck to go to town.

I guess maybe that makes us a good fit as she takes care of me and Ol’ Dutch doesn't really have to do much in that regard. Which is tantum quæ ego volui, or “just what I wanted.”

Kevin Kirkpatrick and his Yorkie, Cooper, fish, hunt, ATV or hike daily. His email is [email protected]. Additional news can be found atwww.troutrepublic.com.