Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Fall quail hunting

Very rarely in south Georgia does the calendar arrival of fall and the actual arrival of fall occur simultaneously, but it certainly has this year! We are back in the hunting business, and could not ask for more perfect hunting conditions. We got a big rain of 3+ inches last week to aid in the scenting conditions for the dogs. Our low temps are now in the mid 40's and our highs are in the mid 70's. If I promised someone a pretty day and they would not accept today, I would just be inclined to whip their butts.
 We continue to be excited about our English Cocker flushing/retrieving dogs for this season. All of the guests who have hunted with them so far have really enjoyed the experience. While we are still training and finishing 2-3 more, I believe that we are actively using them with 6 or 7 of our 15 hunting guides. Training the guides was more difficult than training the dogs. Eventually, we hope to have one of these little dogs on each jeep, but that will probably take another year.
 One of the things that we train our guides on is subjects to avoid when talking to guests. One of those subjects is politics. I'm about to make a statement that is a reflection on neither party. Rather, I am commenting on everyone in Washington these days, and how they are handling the many complex issues we are facing such as ISIS, Ebola, the IRS, the VA, etc. I think that I have a solution to the problem. Since it is illegal to kill all of the stupid people running our country, why don't we just remove the warning labels from all products, and let natural selection wean them out. Since our leaders are dumber than a box of rocks, we should be rid of them by Christmas utilizing my plan.
 If you have not booked a hunt for this season, give us a call. Open slots are disappearing fast!

Monday, October 6, 2014

Senior citizen status

Well, today I officially enter the ranks of senior citizens although some of these fast food twerps have been trying to place me in that category for years. At least I know how to make change in my head, and I know that a half-dozen and six are the same number. That's more than I can say for most of the Einsteins I encounter in such establishments.
 Sometime during the wee hours of the morning, I became Medicare eligible.Since I was up and reading at 3:15 this morning, I celebrated my 50+15th birthday alone. I could have awakened my wife, but my chances of seeing 66 would have been slim and none had I chosen to do so. I have always had difficulties sleeping on a full moon, and this one is a doozy. It will peak with a "Blood Moon" on Wednesday of this week between 6:25-7:15 in the morning. I plan to sit on the banks of the Flint and watch the eclipse. I am either: 1) very light sensitive, 2) a werewolf, or 3) a lunatic. I am going with "light sensitive" rather than options two and three.
 Before I started reading very early this morning, I decided to watch a little television. The advertisements were all about Lifelock or Lifeline for the folks who have fallen and can't get up. The others dealt with devices for foot pain and/or back pain which leads me to believe that the advertisers know their target market during the middle of the night. Only us old, crazy folks are awake during these hours, and if we are awake, we are hurting somewhere.
 I have decided to adopt my Dad's philosophy. He always felt that old age was someone at least 20 years older than he was. He believed that even in his early 80's, and I'm beginning to adopt the same attitude. I have already been promoted to my last Sunday School class at our little country church. There is no older men's group than the one I'm in. My next promotion is across the road to the cemetery. While heaven is my home, I ain't homesick at the moment.
 As Garth Brooks said in one of his earlier country music songs, I'm too dang young to be this dang old" ! I feel good and have a lot of things left to teach my grandchildren. We are excited about opening the 2014-2015 hunting season at Riverview next week, and hope to visit with you here!