Being January 6th, today is the Feast of the Epiphany and thus the start of Epiphanytide. If you are Catholic and observe the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Right, then the season for you lasts an octave. Yet, if you’re High Church Anglican, it closes at 23:59 hours on February 2nd. A good 28-days, it is, which is better. But don’t read too much into that with respect to Yours Truly. I’m all for Mere Christianity, which means I’m Catholophilic (perhaps coining a new term along the way) and maybe even de facto Roman Catholic.
Interestingly, Pope Leo XIV is Augustinian and, theologically speaking, so am I. Additionally, It’s A Wonderful Life is his all-time favorite film, which is mine, too. But Mike H., don’t get any ideas just because I appear to be low-hanging fruit ripe for the picking. I know you’re the one putting my name on countless mailing lists, etc., in the interest of improving my latin.
Voyageurs’ British Deerstalking, etc., anno Domini 2026
In all, Epiphanytide and Christmastide are the two great ontological segments of the liturgical year, each one being thematically the reciprocal of the other. Whereas the latter assumes Christ’s divinity while seeking to prove His humanity, the former turns it around by taking His humanity at face value as it establishes His divinity. And paired together as they are, I believe the two seasons implicitly demand there be a Trinitytide; that Trinity Sunday be given a season of its own, one lasting at least an octave.
Yet, the purpose of this dispatch is not liturgical. Rather, it is to announce that Voyageurs Fieldsport, anno Domini 2026, will begin offering guided deerstalking and fly-fishing in the Yorkshire Dales of England, United Kingdom. Details will be forthcoming, but what I can report here is that I have decided against being the one doing the actual guiding in favor of utilizing vetted British deerstalkers and ghillies.
A Personal Epiphany
In its particular sense, an epiphany is a manifestation of divinity. The appearance of the star to the Magi and their subsequent journey to the Christ child, paying homage, is the first of these regarding Jesus’ divinity that the Church fetes throughout the current season. Others include the turning of water into wine, the descending of the Holy Spirit upon Christ when he was baptized, and the Transfiguration.
In its general sense, however, an epiphany is simply a new insight into the reality of things, one that is often sudden and intuitive. That is, in fact, what I experienced in the wake of my father’s death this past August. I was so taken by the outpouring of kindness, etc. on the part of extended family and friends, and how it helped take the edge of the loss, that I came to the realization that I would rather form an arrangement with a top-tier British entity to provide Voyageurs Fieldsport deerstalking and fly-fishing in the United Kingdom instead of doing it myself, allowing me to remain on these shores close to the people so-named every December through February as well as various other extended intervals throughout the rest of the year.
British-Style Deerstalking in MD and NoVa (peut-être)
With that said, the benefit of being the one providing boots-on-the-ground deerstalking in the United Kingdom to Voyageurs’ clientele is that I would have something into which I could really sink my teeth. In truth, I actually still desire that. Therefore, I’m entertaining the notion of personally providing British-style deerstalking in Maryland and northern Virginia during my Spring and Autumn shoulder seasons there in conjunction with the guided fly-fishing that’s already in place.
Now, if I choose to follow through with the idea, then I would have to change my current living arrangement in the environs of Frederick, Maryland. Operating out of a camp or renting an apartment are both untenable. Instead, I would have to purchase a residence amendable to the setting-up of a larder to process game. Of course, I also would have to obtain an honest bush truck (Refer to the 17 November 2025 dispatch.). For hauling shot deer on a commercial basis in a 2014 Subaru Forester is absolutely out of the question. You know what I mean?