Monday, November 21, 2005, 00:10
Take Cover!
I'll be glad when deer hunting season is over.
Oh, yes, that's right. It only started yesterday. I still have a week to go until the season ends next Sunday night.
It wouldn't be so bad except that all of the gunshots, people walking around in blaze orange and displaced deer running for their lives have made my horses into nervous wrecks. (Me, too, for that matter).
This morning, for example, I was feeding the horses after I came back from church, when all of a sudden, from the trees at the end of our five-acre hayfield, came a volley of shots. Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang.
That was it for the horses. They were instantly on the alert and started tearing around their pastures at top speed. Unfortunately, I was in Isabelle's pasture at the time, cleaning up horse manure.
All at once, I found myself dodging a two-year-old quarter horse who was running around me in circles, kicking up her heels and snorting. You wouldn't necessarily think that horses could move that fast or be that agile, but they can, and on several occasions, I got a closer look at the bottom of Isabelle's back feet than I really cared to have.
After a while, she settled down and went back to eating her hay. For a minute or two anyway. Then the running around and kicking up her heels started all over again.
I can quite honestly say that I was very glad to finish my job of cleaning up manure so I could get out of there in one piece. I was glad my kitties got out of there in one piece, as well. A couple of them like to "help" with whatever I'm doing, and if I happen to be out in the pasture, they are, too. And if the horse starts running around, they have a tendency to crouch down and hide in the grass. When 1,000 pounds of Isabelle comes thundering at them, I would much prefer that they would high-tail it out of there instead of crouching down in the grass.
You know, that's one of the things that really bothers me about deer hunting. The bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang.
I hear it all of the time during hunting season. It means that the person who is shooting can't hit the broad side of a barn.
What I want to know is -- what's wrong with going out to a shooting range a couple of times before deer hunting season to make sure that you know how to shoot the gun and that you can hit what you're shooting at?
But no. There are quite a few people around here who never pick up a gun before deer season, and then when they go out and see a deer, they shoot wildly, hoping they might hit the poor thing. There's no excuse for it. The area where I live is a rifle area, and with a scope on a rifle, there should be no such things as bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang. And there should never be any wounded deer wandering around in agony, either, because the person who wounded them is either too lazy to track the deer they have hit, or else they don't know how.
No, I am not a fan of deer hunting. I hate to think about the poor things being killed. But I also am not a fan of how large that the powers-that-be in the state Department of Natural Resources have let the deer herd become. We have waaaaaaay too many deer. If we get a bad winter, a certain percentage of them will starve to death. And we have far too many car/deer accidents in this state. So even though I don't care for deer hunting, I also don't like to think about the deer starving to death -- or getting hit by a car.
Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now. The first weekend of deer hunting is over. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will probably be fairly quiet. Thanksgiving Day it will sound like another war zone in the woods, fields and valleys around here. The day after Thanksgiving will be another war-zone day. The last two days will most likely be fairly quiet.
Then when the season is over, I can retire my orange vest. I don't even like to walk around the yard without wearing something blaze orange.
Mini Craft Sale The mini craft sale at my friend's house yesterday went pretty well, I thought. She makes homemade soap. And another lady with "snowman lights" was there, as well as another relative whose husband makes wooden bowls and soapstone candle holders and whatnot and another relative with homemade bread. I sold a few books and got to visit with a few people I haven't seen in a long time. We're doing it again next Friday and Saturday.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Saturday, November 19, 2005, 03:25
One of THOSE Days. . .
Have you ever had one of THOSE days? A day when it seemed like you were moving at top speed all day, but it was difficult to get anything done?
It all started this morning. . .no, wait. It actually started last night with the annual meeting for our church. We didn't get home until 11 p.m. Then this morning, there was all this flurry of activity around the house because my husband was getting ready to leave on his trip. (He will be home on Tuesday. Maybe.)
I was planning to go to town this afternoon to buy paint for my office, and I was in good shape for time, too, until I realized I had better call my brother and sister and tell them about a funeral that's going to be at our church on Monday (I have to make bars for that this weekend, plus I'll be working in the kitchen at church on Monday washing dishes and serving food).
By the time I got off the phone, I was still in good shape for time. Then another church member called about some paperwork that I'm supposed to be getting straightened out -- except I don't really know where to start.
By the time I got home from town, it was almost dark, and I had to go out and feed my horses and take care of the dogs. Saturday, I'm scheduled to go to a "mini craft sale" and I'm taking my books with me. A friend of mine organized the event, and I still have to make bookmarks tonight and get some other things organized. And it's already 9:30 p.m.!
Where DID the day go to. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph