Thurs. October 8th... Time to dig some holes...close some holes...blanket a hole and...

Today looks like it's gonna be one of those perfect fall days with lots of chilly air, falling leaves and everything else that makes it Autumn. These things make it hard for an old man to stand out there, with the wind blowing through what hair he has remaining anyway, as he tries to dig holes and line them up, for his mind is spoiled with the memory inducing drugs of harvest time and years gone by. Just as you start to diligently work, you can feel your mind reeling into a stupor of thoughts, with memories of years past, when you were aloof in a pine swamp, watching approaching deer and turkeys as they meandered about directly in front of you, living their lives, unaware that you are there and watching, let alone that you are a scrupulous villain with a rifle, capable of ending their life and placing them on the dinner table. I have taken game to the dinner table.... lots of it in my younger years, as I performed the normal family ritual of hunting, but in my later years, I had plenty. Not so much a home life or lots of close family, but plenty of money, food and a warm place to lie down to sleep. I no longer needed the game meat for the table and chose to dine on food already killed and packaged. This was not a decision of convenience, laziness or guilt. I felt that if there was already food available and I could afford it, why kill more? I therefore walked into the field and woods, with license and gun to simply enjoy, the very ancestors of those unfortunate animals that had provided sustenance for my table in previous years. Now it was a visit, so to speak; a ceremony of appreciation to applaud the sacrifice of their predecessors of yesteryear for my well being and nourishment. Once you understand the meaning of life and have helped bring it into being or have taken its existence, the world takes on a new appearance and your place within it becomes more apparent. Now I ask you...how then can a man concentrate upon the task at hand when such reverent thoughts and feelings keep coursing through his veins and mind?
In retrospect of the above thoughts of appreciation, perhaps I can stay the course by remembering all the eggs and pleasure the other animals have given this past summer and that now it is our turn to return the favor with a warm barn and lots of feed this winter coming....
So......maybe I should get with the program and talk to you all later today.....