Opening day of Deer Hunting today. SO I had to get up at 4:15AM in order to get out to meet the guys and get out to our spots by daybreak. It started out cold but not windy and worsened all day, until it was time for us to leave. At about 9AM it started to mist. That turned to sleet later on which turned to snow flurries. When we left at 4PM it was mighty cold but the precipitation had stopped.

It was not a very successful day overall. Jason got a nice buck on the northside right after the open. Lee and Cory each saw a "half a deer". I saw TWO. I even got two shots off at a nice buck but I missed.

P. S. Lee Carpenter became the proud daddy of a little girl named Brooke 8 months ago. This is since our last hunting trip so I felt I should mention Brooke Carpenter.

Then we went to the bowling alley in Cascade for a drink and something to eat. Jason felt so bad. He usually brings heart sandwiches made from the heart from the previous year. We did not have them this year. His freezer broke and I guess they lost a ton of meat including the heart. So I got home at about 6:30PM which is good because I am of course exhausted.

Naturally I had to attend to the needs of nature out there even if I drank very little fluids. This time I did not slip or goof up despite the cold and wet. It made me, however, remember Ella Jones. Ella and her husband Paul belonged to the Orange County Four Wheelers. Ella had the unique ability to be "caught" no matter how far or how many bushes she chose to use when she had to go to the bathroom. This past month I lost a dear friend, a member of the Four Wheelers, Orrin Nordin. I remembered him too. He used to refer to these bathroom trips at visits to the tickle bushes.

Anyway, one trip found us down in Baja California on the beach. It is a big expanse of dunes and quite nice for jeeping. We did not go there often because it was across the border but it was a fun place to jeep. So, Ella had to go to the bathroom. She asked our friend Rick's wife, I have forgotten her name, to come along to stand watch. She stood watch alright. Noone came across any dune or around any corner but as Ella was crouched, she glanced up and there was a two seater airplane flying overhead with the pilot and his passenger waving like mad.

Nice day. I am very content and tired.

Love

Mary