Miss Molly Magoo was the Life and Soul of Happy Camp from its existence until she left us on August 10, 2024. Magoo was as much of Happy Camp as the lodge, White Otter Lake, and carried a spirit of adventure like no other before her! Magoo was ready, willing and able to go anywhere at anytime. From swimming, hunting, berry picking, and saying hi to everyone, Magoo’s love for adventure will always be etched inside of me. Magoo, I can never thank you enough for being such a great friend, partner and companion, I can only hope that I gave you the life that you deserved. Now run, swim and retrieve with Sadie and Shadow and one day we will all walk together down the trail to the lake and go for a swim!
September 8, 2024,
Hi girl, the memories today are as vivid as when you were here. It is time for us to start hunting, Redheads are here and many other ducks. Grouse are starting to move, gosh Magoo I wonder if my heart will ever start to heal? So many memories we shared, I hope your heart aches as mine does? Each day and night start and end with your Poem and Song, and yes tears still stream down my face. Lsat night new friends of yours came into camp and passed their condolences. You know Magoo, it is too sad that we never made it to the Toronto Sports Show, you would be signing Paw Prints all day long!!
So for today I will go to the baits, then check out a lake where you liked to swim, you know Magoo, was there any place that you did not like to swim? Remember this spring you jumped in Fraser Creek, the current was so strong I had to grab your collar and pull you up the bank! Endless awesome memories, I hope when we get to the marsh in the sky our memories never fade, the ones etched in my mind will never fade! Take care buddy, here is you and Dixie!!
It is August 13th Magoo, the hole is wide open with you not here. I started early today to go baiting, you would have enjoyed seeing the Grouse strutting in the road. Remember Magoo when we used to go Grouse hunting, you would sit in the Sidekick’s chair, and you would see them well before I would. Then we would get closer to them, get out and watch you flush them, then the feathers you chased, nothing finer in a hunters quarry than seeing their favorite pal put feathers in their mouth and deliver to hand. You were so good at that!
As I sit waiting for the Bear hunters to arrive, the air conditioning is on, you never got to experience that! I wonder what you are doing, I hope you have met Dad, and along with Sadie, Mom, Doris and others are enjoying the everlasting dream! Below is a picture of you and Great White who also was a pillar at Happy Camp. Girls, it certainly is not very Happy without you here, save a spot for me in the Duck Blind maybe I will join you soon? Sadie, share a biscuit with all the nice puppies ok?
Good Morning Girls. Magoo the trip is not the same, I am constantly looking behind me, looking into your spot, now going to set up baits for today but my buddy isn’t there to taste the cookies and watch the perimeter for critters try to attack and chow down our food! Today starts our hunt girls, who will come out to greet the hunters and I when we pull back into camp at midnight? Again, such an emply hole when I know you won’t be here, it seems I am spinning my tires and no end in sight. I hope that you are doing ok, ate well this morning and will have a good day
Magoo, it is August 23, 2024, around 9:30 p.m. Two weeks ago tonight you were in your last seizure, the one that took you from me. Today is the first night I sit alone and think of you, the hole in me is as big today as when you were taken from me. I often ask why, there are no answers that I have found. During the next few days, we were to be together, traveling back to Camp to start hunting, but you were taken from me.
Tears stream down my face as I think of you, listen to your song and poem. Life is so hard without you, I can only hope that you miss me as much as I miss you. Each day I am so reminded of you, just today I took 2 calls about you. Magoo you touched so many people, I was so lucky to have you with me, I knew you were a special girl when you met Shadow, you tried so hard to get him to have energy, but he was so sick. You then became the insane drive for many years, having so many adventures.
Remember the time we were pheasant hunting near Omemee and I sent you into the hedge row, you came out with a snoot full of Quills, that was a hoot. How about the other time you fell into a hole in the snowbank, I reached down and pulled you out, or the first time on White Otter Lake in the boat, I tossed out a marker buoy only to have you leap out of the boat to retrieve it!
Magoo, you stole my heart, still have it today, when are you going to give some of it back for me to bring a new girl into the fold and show her the wonderful life of being my Bush Buddy?
It truly will never be Goodbye to you, perhaps see you on the other side! Hug Sadie, Shadow, Mom and Dad and all the rest for me!
Hi Magoo, Camp is quiet, you should be laying at my side with your front paws crossed watching the Birds, but you were taken from me. Magoo, I start each day with your Poem and Song, ask the Angel who took you why she had to be so selfish and take you that night? Ask her why she couldn’t of given me a sign to wait ONE NIGHT to hold you and be with you when you took your last breathe? You know girl, this hole in my heart weeps constantly. It was to be OUR TIME, your last FALL and HUNT! It was to be a culmination of all of our wonders, struggles, travels and enjoy each other for one final Fall.
Thursday night as I walked in the woods a Ruffed Grouse popped out and I thought of you. Remember how you use to tremble when you saw them, then when you would retrieve them you held your head so high and proud! Magoo, you wer enot the best, but the BEST for me. Your awesome retrieves time and time again can never be replaced.
Magoo, you taught me to trust you, often times you looked and said HEY MAN, let me go where the bird is, stop blowing that DAMN whistle! Magoo I now think of the time in the blizzard near our home in North Dakota, we got those huge Canada Geese. Your little brown nose above the water as you brought them back to hand. Those Geese you dragges as they were so heavy, but you did it, you were the BEST!
Your first bird was a Canvasback that is mounted next to Shadow’s last bird, also a Canvasback. I can picture you retrieving that first bird at Groshek Slough south of Dunseith, your little head filled with feathers, you had a hard time seeing me, but you did it! Girl, you remember retrieveing your Crane, Swan and BEAVER! Oh my god Magoo, I remember going to Troy’s slough and he and his waife watched you work your magic! Swimming thru, over and under logs, then grabbing that Beaver by the tail and bringing it back to shore. Then watching your strong back legs as you pulled that Beaver up the bank!
You know my buddy, Dr. Walters told me many times you had the strongest back legs she has ever seen! The power you had was incredible. Magoo, I hope it is ok with you, I will start to look for a new buddy, NO ONE can nor will come close to replacing you, but I want to show the training, love and adventure to more Black Labs! I hope you and Shadow can look down and give her the Guidance that Shadow gave you. My biggest wish I could of ever had is to have you and Shadow make pups, that litter would have been Fantastic! But for some reason, that did not happen, so now I look to you to nudge me to our next Bush Buddy, Companion and Best Friend! As I start looking, give me a sign where to look, when the litter is found, send the pup in my direction. I shall go and get busy now Magoo, as if I sit idle I cry as you are not here with me. I long to hear your claws tap on the floor, your tail pound up and down and your deep sighs telling me it is time for sleep, do the best you can today !
August 26, 2024, very warm, humid and just sultry Magoo. Today is a RITUAL day for you and I and usually the Bear Hunters. Remember girls, how we used to load up the bait buckets in the truck, ALL head to the lake, we cleaned buckets while you and Sadie played in the water! Well, today there was no ritual, I started by looking up in the loft for those beautiful Black Paws who looked down on her kingdom! Later I looked in the truck as I loaded buckets. Magoo, I stood in the Bait trailer and thought, this really, really sucks without you! So, I then took the buckets to outside the Pumphouse and washed them there in the quiet! I stacked them on the pallets to dry, then took some junk to the dump! Guess whe was digging in the trash, Yep you guessed it, he was digging around an old toilet!
You know Magoo, we had so many rituals, it is a hard habit to break, don’t know if I ever will. From our early morning walks, breakfast, you sneaking a piece of Bear bait, all of our travels, adventures and beyond, we truly were connected at the Hip! I listen to your poem and song every morning and night, life is not getting any easier without you! I am starting to look for a puppy, but it is so hard thinking of you, sure you did some crazy things, but you brought so much joy to so many people, I still ask WHY were you taken NOW? I hope and pray that we will reunite in eternity, but I do question that very, very much since you were taken from me! But if this happens, I can’t wait to have Magoo, Shadow, Sadie, Buster, Bammer, Spike and Ike all standing near the Duck blind as Dad opens the door and says Come on In, Call the Ducks for me!
Magoo, I hope you are teaching all your pawed friends some of our rituals, take care my Buddy!