I have had this pair of boots for at least 8 years – probably longer. They have served me well. Hiking, working, camping, you name it, they’ve done it. They are very worn out now, but they are also just as comfortable as they’ve always been!
Filed under Nature, Photography, PostADay2011, Work
Around age 10 my dad got me one of those little badass compound bow beginner kits. Of course, the first month I went around our land sticking arrows in anything that could get stuck by an arrow. Did you know that a 1955 40 horse Farmall tractor tire will take 6 rounds before it goes down? Tough sumbich.
That got boring, so being the 10 yr. old Dukes of Hazard fan that I was, I quickly advanced to taking strips of cut up T-shirt doused in chainsaw gas tied around the end and was sending flaming arrows all over the place. One summer afternoon, I was shooting flaming arrows into a large rotten oak stump in our backyard. I looked over under the carport and see a shiny brand new can of starting fluid (Ether). The light bulb went off in my head. I grabbed the can and set it on the stump. I thought that it would probably just spray out in a disappointing manner. Lets face it, to a 10 yr old mouth-breather like myself, (Ether), really doesn’t “sound” flammable. So, I went back into the house and got a 1 pound can of Pyrodex (black powder for muzzle loader rifles).
At this point, I set the can of ether on the stump and opened up the can of black powder. My intentions were to sprinkle a little bit around the (Ether) can but it all sorta dumped out on me. No biggie, a 1 lb. Pyrodex and 16 oz (Ether) should make a loud pop, kinda like a firecracker you know? You know what? Screw that I’m going back in the house for the other can.
Yes, I got a second can of pyrodex and dumped it too. Now we’re cookin’.
I stepped back about 15 ft and lit the 2 stroke arrow. I drew the nock to my cheek and took aim. As I released I heard a clunk as the arrow launched from my bow. In a slow motion time frame, I turned to see my dad getting out of the truck…OH poop! He just got home from work. So help me God it took 10 minutes for that arrow to go from my bow to the can. My dad was walking towards me in slow motion with a WTH look in his eyes. I turned back towards my target just in time to see the arrow pierce the starting fluid can right at the bottom. Right through the main pile of Pyrodex and into the can.
Oh poop.
When the shock wave hit it knocked me off my feet. I don’t know if it was the actual compression wave that threw me back or just reflex jerk back from 235 fricking decibels of sound. I caught a half a millisecond glimpse of the violence during the initial explosion and I will tell you there was dust, grass, and bugs all hovering 1 ft above the ground as far as I could see. It was like a little low to the ground layer of dust fog full of grasshoppers, spiders, and a worm or two.
The daylight turned purple. Let me repeat this… THE FRICKING DAYLIGHT TURNED PURPLE.
There was a big sweetgum tree out by the gate going into the pasture. Notice I said “was”. That son-of-a-bitch got up and ran off.
So here I am, on the ground blown completely out of my shoes with my Thundercats T-Shirt shredded, my dad is on the other side of the carport having what I can only assume is a Vietnam flashback:
ECHO BRAVO CHARLIE YOU’RE BRINGIN’ EM IN TOO CLOSE!! CEASE FIRE. DAMNIT CEASE FIRE!!!!!
His hat has blown off and is 30 ft behind him in the driveway. All windows on the north side of the house are blown out and there is a slow rolling mushroom cloud about 2000 ft. over our backyard. There is a
Honda 185 3 wheeler parked on the other side of the yard and the fenders are drooped down and are now touching the tires.I wish I knew what I said to my dad at this moment. I don’t know – I know I said something. I couldn’t hear. I couldn’t hear inside my own head. I don’t think he heard me either… not that it would really matter. I don’t remember much from this point on. I said something, felt a sharp pain, and then woke up later. I felt a sharp pain, blacked out, woke later….repeat this process for an hour or so and you get the idea. I remember at one point my mom had to give me CPR. and Dad screaming “Bring Him back to life so I can kill him again”. Thanks Mom.
One thing is for sure… I never had to mow around that stump again, Mom had been bitching about that thing for years and dad never did anything about it. I stepped up to the plate and handled business. Dad sold his muzzle loader a week or so later. I still have some sort of bone growth abnormality, either from the blast or the beating, or both.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, get your kids into archery. It’s good discipline and will teach them skills they can use later on in life.
~Author Unknown
Filed under Hunting, PostADay2011, Sports
Anyone who knows our family also knows that Aaron is a hunter through and through! He eats, breathes, lives, and will die hunting. Aside from his family, it is the thing he loves most in the world. That said, I have usually tried to find something hunting-related when I purchase a gift for him. Valentine’s Day this year was no different, and yet, it was. I happened to be in Cove with my parents a couple of days before the holiday, and I went shopping at the Union Market with my mom.
As we strolled past the wine aisle, one particular label caught my eye . . . I couldn’t help buying this bottle of wine, and I will honestly say that it is the most expensive bottle of wine I have ever purchased. I’m not a wine drinker, and neither is Aaron, so this bottle will probably never even be opened unless we have wine-drinker friends over for dinner some time. I’m okay with that – I didn’t buy it to drink it.
I bought this wine based solely on its name and label. I figure any wine with the phrase “Deer Slayer” in it had to be good (though its likely I’ll never taste it). I love the old picture on the label that shows the deer strapped to the hood of the car with the proud hunter standing next to it. I have SO many pictures of Aaron that are similar to this one.
Maybe someday when Aaron kills a record-sized buck with his bow we’ll open it and celebrate. Until then, I’m content with enjoying the label.
Filed under Family
Archery season was a bust for me. I didn’t even get to draw my bow back one time, which is okay – even if it is a bit disappointing. I saw very few deer, and only 4 elk total. Aaron, on the other hand, had a much better season. He wasn’t able to fill his buck tag, but he hunted hard and killed a beautiful, huge 6-point bull the last week of the season. I am very impressed and proud of him!
I’m thinking this makes up for the past four years where he hasn’t gotten anything . . . I guess we shall see!
Hunting season is almost over, and we have really enjoyed our time in the mountains. We have only had the girls with us two of the weekends. Last weekend, we went on a VERY long drive (5 hours), and ended up in Greenhorn – Oregon’s Smallest and Highest Incorporated City. Way cool!
Light to color by is hard to come by, so Reagan made due with what was there. She stayed at this little table coloring for a couple of hours, even after the other girls went to bed. If you look closely at the middle picture, you’ll see her “Tot Spot” lawn chair sitting on the seat of a normal sized chair. That made me nervous, but she just brushed it off and said the ground wasn’t that hard.
I’m heading up for the final weekend tomorrow night. I’m really looking forward to it, but I’m also not because I don’t want the season to be over.
Filed under Family
So finally, after nearly five months of pain and treatment not working, Aaron finally had surgery to correct the problem with his foot. The doctor went in through the bottom of his foot and removed the piece of bone that lost its blood supply and died. He had surgery Monday, December 29th, and he will still not be walking on it for a few more days at least. He’s really thrilled I’m posting these pictures on my blog. 
So, he’s been in a lot of pain, he can’t really DO anything, just relax and let it heal. In the mean time, though, I get to be Mom, Dad, Daughter, Sister, Cook, Maid, Personal Assistant, etc. I’m not omplaining, but I am definitely not going to take Aaron for granted any more. I am thankful for all the work he does do around here.
Filed under Hunting
While the rest of our hunting group, for as I call us the “Lucky Weiner-Fish Hunt Club”, was off hunting all week, Jason and I had to come home and work all week. I caught a ride to camp with him Friday afternoon. I rode the bus from IHS to Heppner with the Junior High Volleyball team and watched Emma’s games. Jason was nice enough to pick me up there on our way to camp.
On our way – this was the view we had – one GORGEOUS sunset! It was breathtaking!
After a weekend of unsuccessful hunting, but lots of fun, the crew headed home. Tod has two special riding spots in the pickup. One is on the fold down arm rest in the back seat when the girlies aren’t with us, and the other (much to my dismay) is right in Aaron’s lap.
Here we are, the “LWFHC” – Rob, Josh, Shelby, Me, Aaron, and Jason.
And this is our caravan home – five pick-ups and four camp trailers.
Eleven more months until we get to do it all over again!
Aaron has been complaining about having a sore foot for about two months. He thought it was maybe from walking on all the sand at our property, standing on ladders for extended amounts of time, or that maybe he had just dropped something on it. At any rate, it hurt – and it hurt bad. After nagging and nagging him, he finally went to the doctor today, and its broken.
It’s pretty hard to applicate circles with a boot on your foot. He can get it wet, it’s the getting shin-deep in mud that’s going to be hard to avoid – looks like we’ll need to invest in some heavy-duty garbage bags! 
He swears it’s not going to slow down his hunting, either, even if that means he has to wear the boot longer. Crazy people are hard to reason with at times . . .
So, six to eight weeks in the boot with new x-rays in four weeks.
Filed under Hunting
Labor Day weekend for us means camping, hiking, swimming, nature, drives, and hunting. It always falls during Archery Season, and this year happened to be opening weekend. We headed to the mountains Friday and spent the whole weekend enjoying each other and nature.
Saturday the girls had a blast in the creek swimming and playing in the water.
They found a bank they could jump off of into a deep pool. Unfortunately I didn’t have my shutter speed set fast enough so many of these pictures are blurry, but I still love them because the girls are having so much fun. Reagan started the crew off with a running jump from the bank and a big “thumbs up” when she was done. Then Harley jumped off the high bank, too. Emma and Katelyn decided to jump with inner tubes.
Tod still isn’t sure what he thinks of the water, but Emma took him on the innter tube with her and he didn’t seem to mind it too badly.
Sunday was FREEZING cold, but not so cold to make the deer hide. Aaron was successful filling his buck tag on Sunday, and the girls were there to help us track it and they helped Aaron gut it. Harley and Katelyn are wanting to hunt, and one of our conditions is that they be able to help gut and clean up any animal they harvest. They did pretty well, and they only gagged a couple of times.
It has been a great week back at school for the girls. They’re really enjoying their classes, and they love being around all their friends again. I have loved them being back into school because we can get back into a routine and follow a schedule of sorts.
Sunday we decided to take our camp trailer to the mountains so its up there and ready for archery season. Aaron and I loaded up the three girlies, and we headed off for a drive and a picnic. Once we got there, we had our picnic, and the girls had a blast playing in the creek. The swimming holes are at least a foot or two higher than they normally are this time of year, which is great. This was Tod’s first trip to the mountains, and it was his first experience with running water other than a hose. He was hilarious – as long as we left him to explore the creek on his own, he was fine going in up to his belly.
These birds were so brave – they were eating something out of the firepit, and they were letting me get within about 6 feet of them. They are called Red Crossbills, and they are so beautiful! The range of colors in their feathers are phenominal. I had never seen them before, and I had to ask my dad what kind of bird they were.
On the way home, we swung through Heppner and picked up Emma for her final two weeks here before school starts. It was such a nice, relaxing day, it was wonderful!
