OPENING DAY – DEER SEASON 2008

Deer season opened yesterday, October 10. If you're rooting for the deer, this is probably the year for you. Ordinarily the best time to get a deer in this place is right around opening day – before the deer get the picture and move to the canyon. However, conditions are working in their favor right now. 1) A depredation hunt occurred the whole month of August on neighboring farms, which served to reduce the already reduced number of deer. 2) The half moon moving towards full provides a lot of night light, making foraging at night realistic for the deer. 3) Our farmer moved in to seed on "opening day eve," disrupting the environment and making the fields difficult for humans to navigate. 4) It turned cold, which encourages the deer to seek the warmer habitat of the canyon.

While Mike is disappointed, he has known for weeks that things weren't working together for an easy season this year. However, it isn't over yet. And, while we've come to enjoy the lean venison meat, getting your deer entails real work, especially if it happens in the cold and you're by yourself and you have to finish up in the dark.

I enjoyed an afternoon in the sewing room yesterday. I was comfortable sitting by the window with the southern sun shining in. I darned knees in a pair of Mike's blue jeans and then worked on the "Ina" costume. Just the hem on the circular bias skirt and the buttonholes and buttons to go. The frustrating part is not knowing the machine well enough to just use the various applications without doing some study.

The photo is me, of course, demonstrating how the clay pigeon thrower works. Stomping on that lever releases the spring-loaded "arm" and that action flings the "bird." To be effective, the photo should have been a close-up of the thrower. Instead, you have a picture of me.

I had a message from Hallie yesterday. She was looking forward to sightseeing in San Francisco.

It's back to town this afternoon. KW