Whatever Takes Us Away

I really enjoy hunting, it is something I picked up only a few years ago, but I have found I am quite fond of it. However, I have a problem: I work second shift (until 11:00 pm) and like getting out in the woods before sunrise. That alarm clock sounds more and more like that annoying co-worker in the next cubicle that has no volume or tone control with their voice. Each time, after about the first month, I hear the alarms go off it gets harder and harder to get out of bed; and yet here I am at 12:53 in the am and I am typing this post. Am I just crazy?

6:00 am rolls around much quicker when you're sleeping!

Maybe tonight I will dream of that giant herd of deer that have no sense of smell, no sense of hearing and are all blind in one eye - I think my chances would be greatly increased if only I could find that herd. I'm not a trophy hunter, I enjoy a decent "mountable" animal, but I am more in it for the sport and the meat - yeah, I'm sure P.E.T.A. isn't going to like me any - I eat what I go after.

At any rate, the alarm is set, my gear is ready for the morning and the coffee pot timer is waiting for 5:50 am, at which point, when I fall off my side of the bed into my clothes I will at least have one small thing accomplished: Fresh Coffee!

Only five hours five minutes til' the alarms sound.

In this digital age of (in)convenience it is overwhelmingly easy to reconnect with people from our pasts. And this post is about just that thing; reconnections with old friends.

A few months back I started a Facebook account, not really knowing what Facebook is/was/could be. As it turns out, people really dig deep into their mental memory banks to try their hardest to remember the most obscure people they could possibly remember from their pasts (yes that sentence was intentionally long and arduous). I happen to be one of those people (on both sides of the account). Finding friends from years gone by, friends that I worked with, friends that shared common interests - I am finding that there are some connections that just were not meant to be lost.

Now, take into account that not everyone wants to be found. There was a point in my life that I wanted as few people from my past to remember me or know how I was doing or where I was living, I've gotten over myself since and hence, I can be found as YOUR friend on Facebook. Some people from my past haven't changed much, others have. Me, take me for example. Many of the people I am linking up with through Facebook know me in a short time span (three years or less time spent in "friendship"), and the person they remember was vastly different from who I have become. Over the last 10 years my life has changed in dramatic ways. As a young teen I wasn't really a fan of children, yet here I am with four kids of my own and the fifth added teenager in the house. There was a span of five years that I didn't really attend church on a regular basis, but here I am studying Christian Theology and finishing my first degree in the coming months. Some knew me as one of the fun party guys, hitting the "regular" spots on Friday and Saturday nights from San Diego to Los Angeles, and here I am staying at home on those days.

All of this to say, it is interesting to catch up with old friends, acquaintances, and keep in touch with new friends that have moved away. If you have some time and wish to find old friends, take the time to check it out. You might be shocked, you might be sad or you might find that old familiar friend lives in the town next door.

Life is hectic! If anyone does, from time to time, read this digital journal of mine, they will know that my life is no less strained than anyone else. I have FOUR kids (and a pseudo-adopted fifth - aptly named Number 5), a full-time job, a full-time college schedule and a part-time youth and children's position with my church. Combine this with everything else that goes on from one day to the next and you get one crazy bit of life - my life. As Tina and I have discussed numerous times something needs to change before we go insane (rather, before I drive her insane with my non-stop lifestyle). Something had to give.

At the end of December I will be hanging up my position with the church, something not easy to do, but necessary. I feel I have been neglecting the program there with everything else going on, and I need to focus on school for myself, my family, and need to allow someone else to step into a position of leadership. This comes with a heavy heart, hours of agonizing thought (because I hate to think to heavily), and much prayer as to my future.

The blog here, then, will get back to its original plan and design, a digital journal for me to keep and for anyone (I mean anyone who might think my life is worth reading about) to read that may encounter, by chance or by accident, what happens to happen in my life. The picts of the youth group will soon disappear, the links to certain websites will disappear, and the overall appearance may once again be changed. However, if you are one of the few (I mean very few) who subscribe to and read this blog, I will not change any of the settings that would affect your RSS Inbox - you will still receive (why you would want it I don't know) updates weekly from the blog; assuming there are weekly updates to be sent.

That said, you will once again read more about my life, my (mis)adventures, my kids, family and my mishaps as they come through real-time. This is life, and it changes some times, and this is where I (re)begin.

It has been several weeks now, and nothing posted here . . . I lament if for no one but myself. This past semester has had me reading more books, writing more papers and getting much less sleep than a person should. However, the semester came to an end last night at 11:59 pm - I think I did pretty good even in spite of the mass amounts of work and reading. Only a few more classes to finish that first degree - and only 16 years after I graduated high school!

Since my last post . . .

Well, it is late and I have church to prepare for tomorrow. Hopefully, over the next few weeks I can get back to regular posts (at least once weekly if at nothing else). Until then . . .

The 2008-2009 deer hunting season has begun! Day one was rather uneventful, I saw nothing that resembled a Whitetail Deer in the six to seven hours I was in the woods. I did manage to scare something off while attempting to get to my tree stand at about 6:15 am on day one. Day two was a bit different and that is what this post will be about.

Things started a bit slow, I was up and settled into my tree stand by 6:35 am; I waited patiently for any movement. There is a small field next to my parents’ property and I was just inside the wood line on a well traveled deer path. The sun rose at 7:29 and at 7:30 I noticed something small with a longer tail and thought it must be a fox. However, I noticed just after that another tail and the body of a coyote. Two coyotes entered the woods at about 45 yards; one headed slightly away from me and the other slightly towards my position. I drew back, and tried to guess the yardage as I got the animal sighted in. Just as I was about to loose an arrow it noticed me and ran away. Having seen these coyotes I figured I would see no deer in this position, but the morning was still very young and there was still hope.

Many squirrels, various birds and a raccoon gave me something to look at to pass the time. An hour after I’d seen the coyotes I noticed on the far side of the field two deer, slowly grazing towards me! I was surprised to see them coming from the same area the coyotes had approached from, but happy to see deer. After a few minutes they wandered off to my right into the woods, and I had begun to lose hope once again. I started to think about changing locations, but decided to stay put and stick it out. To my glee they returned only minutes later and there were now three of them! A mother and two fawns.

They made their way towards me once again and they got right up next to the wood line. After a few minutes one of the fawns entered the woods, jumping over a low spot in the fence. I had placed a small corn feeder along the deer path and the fawn headed straight for it. The other fawn entered as well and went right to the feeder as well. The mother was a little hesitant about jumping the fence, but after a few minutes she too entered the woods. I was standing at this point and waited for the mother to give me a good broadside shot, but her leeriness lead her to exit the woods. The fawns did not follow her, but continued to feed on the corn. About five minutes later the mother entered back into the woods but was fixing her eyes in my direction. She turned her head and I quickly drew back, she spotted me and lept back over the fence out into the field where I could not shoot.

The mother walked away and headed to the north, which was fine because a friend was sitting in a different place about 500 yards from me. He had a chance. So, I sat back down and decided to just watch the two fawns, still chomping at the corn. The mother had left the area about 8:50 and I had been watching all of this for just over 20 minutes at this point.
The two fawns ate and ate and ate some more. They had each spent about 30 – 40 minutes eating the corn. One had more of a black tail, the other more brown. The one with the black tail walked away, but I lost sight of it and focused more on the lighter colored fawn which was still eating. After a few more minutes it too walked away, but laid down only a few yards away from the feeder. Once it had laid down I noticed the other fawn which had also been laying about 25 yards from me. It stood up, raised it’s tail and did something I thought I would never see, hear or experience. The fawn with the black tail raised it’s tail and blew one of the loudest flatulations I had ever heard. The deer had farted! It laid itself right back down where it was.

All told I watch these deer for just over two hours, watching them lick themselves, get up only to move a few feet or yards, come back to the feeder, but they never noticed me or got scared by my presence. It took me more than five minutes to get them to leave before I got out of the stand to return to the house. I talked to them, clapped my hands, and even got to finish most of my coffee with a smoke before finally chasing them off. I recounted the events with my friend and my family that was there. We chuckled a bit and I showed a picture I had taken with my phone, the kids enjoyed the picture and the story of the deer that farted in the woods.
No, I didn’t shoot anything opening weekend, but it was interesting nonetheless.