Well, to be honest I was not filled with my usual enthusiasm when the morning of the Opening Meet arrived. My bed seemed to be a very pleasant place: the weather outside the bedroom window was uninspiring grey and work over the previous week had been tiring. However, being a Subscriber imposes some duties and it is necessary to be supportive at all times, everyone pulling together, as that is the only way a hunt can thrive. The route I chose to drive is supposed to be the fastest according to Google. In practice it is 30 miles longer than the alternative and therefore proved slower even though it is motorway nearly all the way. I duly reached my destination at The Old Rectory and parked up under a tree, hoping, as there was no other space, that no one would mind a very little bit of damage to their lawn… Being late, I hurried towards the crowd gathered on the gravel and greeted the first person I recognised, the Master. “How lovely to see you!” he exclaimed and gave me a friendly and completely unexpected welcome kiss on my cheek, which set the tone nicely. I found great pleasure in familiar faces and greeting people I hadn’t seen since last season. And later, when the hounds were put in to the first field and immediately gave voice, I felt that special swirl of magic and excitement that always makes me grin in total delight. We had a busy day, with hounds working well as a result of the tireless work put in over the summer months. The trails were hard to find as the weather was too warm, too dry and too windy to offer much scent and the light became gloomy very early. But at the end of the afternoon, invited back to the house for tea and cakes, a group of grubby, contented humans ate, drank, joked and recounted tales of minimal daring-do whilst the house dogs moved happily from lap to chair to lap, cadging illegal pieces of cake or sandwich. That unique sense of wellbeing was the best part of the day.