Joseph Monninger thought the worst when Nellie, his loyal golden retriever, became ill.   Home Waters is the story of the road trip that Monninger decided to embark on with Nellie, traveling out West to revisit their favorite mountain haunts and trout streams.  Expecting this to be their final excursion together, Monninger maps a course that includes the Wind River Range in Wyoming, the Bighorn River in Montana, and Henry Ford's River in Idaho. Painting a loving portrait of his canine companion and the joys of fishing, Monninger recalls the life events that Nellie has seen him through and describes how, oblivious to her presumed health problems, Nellie contentedly watches bison at Yellowstone, chases a coyote, and falls head over heels for a Chesapeake retriever named Chunky.  Combining the charm of John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley with the unsentimental storytelling of A River Runs Through It , Home Waters is a delightful story of a beautiful friendship--one that is, in the end, renewed rather than ended. "If you love fly-fishing or dogs or both, this book is a must." -- Field & Stream "Engaging...a wonderfully affecting probe of the human-pet bond." -- Publishers Weekly "A heartwarming memoir." -- Library Journal "Touching." -- Boston Herald Joseph Monninger thought the worst when Nellie, his loyal golden retriever, became ill.   Home Waters is the story of the road trip that Monninger decided to embark on with Nellie, traveling out West to revisit their favorite mountain haunts and trout streams.  Expecting this to be their final excursion together, Monninger maps a course that includes the Wind River Range in Wyoming, the Bighorn River in Montana, and Henry Ford's River in Idaho. Painting a loving portrait of his canine companion and the joys of fishing, Monninger recalls the life events that Nellie has seen him through and describes how, oblivious to her presumed health problems, Nellie contentedly watches bison at Yellowstone, chases a coyote, and falls head over heels for a Chesapeake retriever named Chunky.  Combining the charm of John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley with the unsentimental storytelling of A River Runs Through It , Home Waters is a delightful story of a beautiful friendship--one that is, in the end, renewed rather than ended. Joseph Monninger thought the worst when Nellie, his loyal golden retriever, became ill. Home Waters is the story of the road trip that Monninger decided to embark on with Nellie, traveling out West to revisit their favorite mountain haunts and trout streams. Expecting this to be their final excursion together, Monninger maps a course that includes the Wind River Range in Wyoming, the Bighorn River in Montana, and Henry Ford's River in Idaho. Painting a loving portrait of his canine companion and the joys of fishing, Monninger recalls the life events that Nellie has seen him through and describes how, oblivious to her presumed health problems, Nellie contentedly watches bison at Yellowstone, chases a coyote, and falls head over heels for a Chesapeake retriever named Chunky. Combining the charm of John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley with the unsentimental storytelling of A River Runs Through It, Home Waters is a delightful story of a beautiful friendship--one that is, in the end, renewed rather than ended. Joseph Monninger has published nine novels and three nonfiction books, including the memoir  Home Waters,  and has been awarded two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships. He lives and teaches in New Hampshire, where his family runs a sled-dog team. Home Waters Fishing with an Old Friend: A Memoir By Joseph Monninger Broadway Books Copyright © 1999 Joseph Monninger All right reserved. ISBN: 9780767905152 Chapter One Nelli IN THE SPRING OF 1997 I took my eleven-year-old GoldenRetriever, Nellie, to see the vet. I had noticed a series of lumpsunder her skin, the lumps particularly dense along her spine.Goldens are notorious for troublesome skin, but Nellie hasalways been a beautiful dog with a gorgeous coat and clear eyes.In the decade I had lived with her, she had been sprayed byskunks, quilled by porcupines, even attacked by a pit bull, butshe had never been ill. I didn't like the feel of the lumps. Oneparticularly large lump rested beneath her right front leg, upwhere a human's lymph node might be located. Cancer, Ithought, then tried to push the thought away. The next day Iwatched her when she ran or walked and I checked to make sureshe ate her food. She seemed healthy enough, although somewhatsluggish. When I took her on our daily walk she did notdart off through the ferns and pucker brush that border my NewHampshire house. She stayed beside me, seemingly content totake a short walk and return home. She made it back before Idid and remained stationary at the door, waiting to be let inside. The night before the appointment, I called Nellie into bedand pulled her up close to me. It was April, stil