For the two or three folks other than family who might read my occasional ramblings, I apologize for the lack of writing lately. I have a good reason for that which I will share with you shortly. I have often been asked why I have never written a book. I love to read, and always have a book or two going on my Kindle. It amazes me how great writers are able to string a long story together while keeping me wanting to read every word of it. My mind simply does not work that way. I think that I could be a decent short story writer, but I could never hold out to write an entire novel. Therein lies my reason for failing to post anything lately. This is the time of the year that I begin gathering information and thoughts for our summer newsletter, Summer Scene. I fear that I do not have enough good information to write both it and a blog at the same time without using some or most of the same material.
However, I am almost finished with my first draft of the newsletter; so I should be able to come up with some new material shortly. One thing that I might do at some point in time is write my memoirs of the years of working here at Riverview as a "social director for the over-privileged", but I need for just a few more folks to pass away first. I do have some stories to tell! Before writing those stories, I keep reminding myself that life is like a jar of jalapeno papers. What I do today might bite me on my butt tomorrow!
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
We are experiencing the coldest and definitely the wettest April in my memory. Our Albany weatherman said that it is already the fourth wettest April on record, and we have another strong weather system moving in here the middle of next week. I am telling you that it is wet enough on Riverview right now to bog a buzzard's shadow.
The rain has been great for our spring woods burning program. It definitely lessened the stress on the trees, and the new growth on the ground is sprouting green cover much sooner than normal. However, it has not been so sporty for the sweet corn farming operations. Unless we are growing hydroponic sweet corn due to the fact that a fair amount of our corn is under water at the moment, I have to assume that our yields will be off a good bit. Since all of the farmers in our area are in the same boat,literally and figuratively, maybe we will receive higher prices due to lower yields.
Our trapping program is in high gear now, and we are having great success now as the trappers have finally gotten smarter than the trapees. We are breaking in a new bookkeeper at the moment, and I thought that she was going to have stroke this morning when she opened an invoice for a gallon of bobcat and a gallon of coyote urine. She had no idea how to code the bill, but was more concerned with what kind of place she worked at that purchased urine. Hopefully, she will stick around. If she does, I can guarantee you that she will see stranger things here. I once had an IRS auditor who did not like me very much for some strange reason. He also did not like or understand what we do here; so he classified us as a circus in his code book. Back in the old days, you could be ugly to those folks. Regretfully, I now fear my government more that I do Russia or terrorists.
Speaking of terrorism, when we renewed all of our insurance policies, our agent tried to get us to buy terrorism insurance. I just have to tell you that I would consider us a very low value, but well-armed target for an attack. I declined that one, but I sure am glad that we renewed our flood policies. For those of you who visit us annually, you would have a difficult time imagining how high the Flint River is at the moment. We are not ready to break camp and move furniture yet, but we are definitely keeping a wary eye on the Flint. I can still recall my Dad saying to me," Son, dry weather will scare you, but wet weather will kill you". As usual, Pop was right.
Well, I'm going to put my rubber boots on and mosey on out to the corn field to see how many tractors are stuck at the moment. I will chat with y'all later.
The rain has been great for our spring woods burning program. It definitely lessened the stress on the trees, and the new growth on the ground is sprouting green cover much sooner than normal. However, it has not been so sporty for the sweet corn farming operations. Unless we are growing hydroponic sweet corn due to the fact that a fair amount of our corn is under water at the moment, I have to assume that our yields will be off a good bit. Since all of the farmers in our area are in the same boat,literally and figuratively, maybe we will receive higher prices due to lower yields.
Our trapping program is in high gear now, and we are having great success now as the trappers have finally gotten smarter than the trapees. We are breaking in a new bookkeeper at the moment, and I thought that she was going to have stroke this morning when she opened an invoice for a gallon of bobcat and a gallon of coyote urine. She had no idea how to code the bill, but was more concerned with what kind of place she worked at that purchased urine. Hopefully, she will stick around. If she does, I can guarantee you that she will see stranger things here. I once had an IRS auditor who did not like me very much for some strange reason. He also did not like or understand what we do here; so he classified us as a circus in his code book. Back in the old days, you could be ugly to those folks. Regretfully, I now fear my government more that I do Russia or terrorists.
Speaking of terrorism, when we renewed all of our insurance policies, our agent tried to get us to buy terrorism insurance. I just have to tell you that I would consider us a very low value, but well-armed target for an attack. I declined that one, but I sure am glad that we renewed our flood policies. For those of you who visit us annually, you would have a difficult time imagining how high the Flint River is at the moment. We are not ready to break camp and move furniture yet, but we are definitely keeping a wary eye on the Flint. I can still recall my Dad saying to me," Son, dry weather will scare you, but wet weather will kill you". As usual, Pop was right.
Well, I'm going to put my rubber boots on and mosey on out to the corn field to see how many tractors are stuck at the moment. I will chat with y'all later.
Friday, April 11, 2014
I spent a little time with Chuck this week observing his training program on these little English Cockers that we are integrating into our program as flushing and retrieving dogs. We are very excited about this program, and the few dogs we had ready to go last season were very well received. As a matter of fact, we had several guests who called and requested to hunt with certain dogs rather than guides. That somewhat offended the guides, but they took it with good nature.
At any rate, the methods being employed by Chuck were so impressive, I asked him if I could send my wife, Martha, up to his facility for a day to see if he could train her to obey commands that good. Chuck, being smarter than he looks responded," Boss, this program has not worked on my wife, and I know that it would not work on Miss Martha. Besides that, I have young children, and need to stay alive for a while longer".
I then checked in with Andy and Casey to see how our trapping program was going. After they informed me that "something" had drug one of their leg hold traps,chain, and log out of the ground and off into the woods near my house, I am reexamining my daily jogging route.We have caught some coons,possums, and skunks, but we are really after the coyotes. They are wily critters, and we will entice them into the fold in the next few days.
The last thing that I want to mention is turkeys. I do not know why you turkey hunters get so all fired excited about the thrill of turkey hunting. For the past two weeks, I could have killed all of them I wanted to from my patio with a gun in one hand and a cup of coffee in another. But,like the males of all species, they will get stupid when they get females on their brains. One of my mentors when I was a young man just back at Riverview was a fine old gentleman named Lemuel Boulware. Mr. Lem once told me that he had reached the stage in life where the" Wall Street Journal" excited him more than the Playboy centerfold. I thought to myself," You poor old fellow". Humn, I'm getting closer to understanding that now although these turkeys have not figured it out yet.
At any rate, the methods being employed by Chuck were so impressive, I asked him if I could send my wife, Martha, up to his facility for a day to see if he could train her to obey commands that good. Chuck, being smarter than he looks responded," Boss, this program has not worked on my wife, and I know that it would not work on Miss Martha. Besides that, I have young children, and need to stay alive for a while longer".
I then checked in with Andy and Casey to see how our trapping program was going. After they informed me that "something" had drug one of their leg hold traps,chain, and log out of the ground and off into the woods near my house, I am reexamining my daily jogging route.We have caught some coons,possums, and skunks, but we are really after the coyotes. They are wily critters, and we will entice them into the fold in the next few days.
The last thing that I want to mention is turkeys. I do not know why you turkey hunters get so all fired excited about the thrill of turkey hunting. For the past two weeks, I could have killed all of them I wanted to from my patio with a gun in one hand and a cup of coffee in another. But,like the males of all species, they will get stupid when they get females on their brains. One of my mentors when I was a young man just back at Riverview was a fine old gentleman named Lemuel Boulware. Mr. Lem once told me that he had reached the stage in life where the" Wall Street Journal" excited him more than the Playboy centerfold. I thought to myself," You poor old fellow". Humn, I'm getting closer to understanding that now although these turkeys have not figured it out yet.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
spring burning season
This is definitely my favorite time of the year. To me, the control woods burning feels like the beginning of a new year. We rid ourselves of the residue of the prior year, and prepare to watch the new growth burst forth from beneath the majestic oaks and stately Longleaf pines. We have had two excellent days of burning with one very minor exception.
Late yesterday, as I was enjoying the soothing sounds of the fire crackling through the underbrush blending with the sighs from the big pines as the winds stirred through them, my reverie was interrupted by the sound of a voice on the radio from one of the burning crews saying, "oh S---, the wind is shifting from the west to the south".Our trusty weather forecaster who predicts the weather like I do the stock market was wrong again. Thank goodness at the time we were burning some of our oldest timber that had only light cover underneath, and no damage was done other than to our professional pyromania pride. With just a bit of luck, we will finish up burning this week, and can begin preparing our habitat for another excellent quail hatch in another month or so when the ground cover will be perfect. In the meantime, we will be getting ready to trap our worst predators that prey on nesting birds.
Late yesterday, as I was enjoying the soothing sounds of the fire crackling through the underbrush blending with the sighs from the big pines as the winds stirred through them, my reverie was interrupted by the sound of a voice on the radio from one of the burning crews saying, "oh S---, the wind is shifting from the west to the south".Our trusty weather forecaster who predicts the weather like I do the stock market was wrong again. Thank goodness at the time we were burning some of our oldest timber that had only light cover underneath, and no damage was done other than to our professional pyromania pride. With just a bit of luck, we will finish up burning this week, and can begin preparing our habitat for another excellent quail hatch in another month or so when the ground cover will be perfect. In the meantime, we will be getting ready to trap our worst predators that prey on nesting birds.
Friday, March 28, 2014
Spring
Our 2013-2014 hunting season officially ended on March 22nd, and it was a terrific season! We had a big catfish cookout for all of the guides, and then gave them a couple of days off. I have taken my phone off the hook at the house because I do not want to post bail for any of this crowd who feels compelled to blow off too much steam on their pressure release valves. I have always stated that if I did not look forward to the beginning of a hunting season, then it was time for me to get out of the business. I have also always firmly believed that if I did not look forward to the end of a hunting season, then it was time for me to be committed to a mental institution!
Somewhere in the Bible there is a verse that states, and I am paraphrasing here, every man is born with the innate understanding that there is a God just by observing the awesomeness of nature and the perfect cycles of creation, the rhythm of the seasons, and the ordered movement of the sun, the moon, and the stars. These things could not happen by accident. Personally, spring is my favorite season of the year. Down here in south Georgia, the Azaleas and Dogwoods are in full bloom. All of the native fruit trees are blooming along with the other species that shed their leaves in the winter. We are about to begin our controlled woods burning program this coming Monday.
I always equate woods burning with new birth. We rid the woods of all of the leftover fuel and undesirable species sprouting up on the hunting courses. We almost always burn late in the evening, and try to get a consistent wind from any direction. We then set backfires against the wind, and the fires just meander through the big pines at about a knee high level in very long strings of even lines of fire. Once it gets completely dark, it is a beautiful sight to behold. Of course, we also have burning crews trying to sneak up on other burning crews in the dark woods to scare the living Beejesus out of one another. Along with the crackling and popping of burning underbrush, you will occasionally hear a horrible scream, and you will know that some unsuspecting soul has been scared out of his life. Had General Sherman been as good at burning as Jerry and his crews are, we might not have lost so many fine Georgia mansions during the War of Northern Aggression.
My goal for this spring and summer is to try to be as good of a person as my dog thinks I am. In closing and speaking of dogs, someone sent me this cute thought that states that every puppy is born with the notion that his master is God. It is the master's responsibility to never do anything to make that puppy change his opinion!
Somewhere in the Bible there is a verse that states, and I am paraphrasing here, every man is born with the innate understanding that there is a God just by observing the awesomeness of nature and the perfect cycles of creation, the rhythm of the seasons, and the ordered movement of the sun, the moon, and the stars. These things could not happen by accident. Personally, spring is my favorite season of the year. Down here in south Georgia, the Azaleas and Dogwoods are in full bloom. All of the native fruit trees are blooming along with the other species that shed their leaves in the winter. We are about to begin our controlled woods burning program this coming Monday.
I always equate woods burning with new birth. We rid the woods of all of the leftover fuel and undesirable species sprouting up on the hunting courses. We almost always burn late in the evening, and try to get a consistent wind from any direction. We then set backfires against the wind, and the fires just meander through the big pines at about a knee high level in very long strings of even lines of fire. Once it gets completely dark, it is a beautiful sight to behold. Of course, we also have burning crews trying to sneak up on other burning crews in the dark woods to scare the living Beejesus out of one another. Along with the crackling and popping of burning underbrush, you will occasionally hear a horrible scream, and you will know that some unsuspecting soul has been scared out of his life. Had General Sherman been as good at burning as Jerry and his crews are, we might not have lost so many fine Georgia mansions during the War of Northern Aggression.
My goal for this spring and summer is to try to be as good of a person as my dog thinks I am. In closing and speaking of dogs, someone sent me this cute thought that states that every puppy is born with the notion that his master is God. It is the master's responsibility to never do anything to make that puppy change his opinion!
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
As Noah might have said,"It came up a cloud here on Sunday".It started raining Sunday around noon, and before it was over, we had received over four inches of rain. I have always heard that the two things a man can want the most and catch up on the quickest are sex and rain. I can assure you that we caught up on the rain on Sunday. Even though the forecast called for another 70% of rain on Monday, we actually hunted all day with no rain fall to speak of at all. Yesterday was cold and overcast all day, but once again, we had no rain. We have high hopes of seeing the sun shine today.
The best news of all is that we will be very busy during this last week of our hunting season with almost a full house of hunters, and the weather man said no more rain until at least Monday. We may start burning our woods next week using boats rather than jeeps, but I would much prefer the wet stuff to hold off until at least next week. Then , as Miss Scarlett said, " I will worry about that tomorrow"!
The best news of all is that we will be very busy during this last week of our hunting season with almost a full house of hunters, and the weather man said no more rain until at least Monday. We may start burning our woods next week using boats rather than jeeps, but I would much prefer the wet stuff to hold off until at least next week. Then , as Miss Scarlett said, " I will worry about that tomorrow"!
Saturday, March 15, 2014
I heard a man say one day," If I promised a man a pretty weekend and he would not accept this one, I would be inclined to whip his butt". Well, it has been an absolutely beautiful mid-March weekend at Riverview. We had a light frost both mornings with crisp,cool hunting conditions. We have a bunch of folks in here this weekend from Michigan who are having a difficult time shooting quail because they are spending so much time looking at the grass. It seems that they have seen nothing but snow on the ground for quite a while now. I'm not certain, but I believe snow is that white stuff that we read about down here in the south.
We have had a great hunting season, and have only one more week to go after today.The cover has been exceptional this season, sometimes a bit too exceptional as I think that the advantage has gone to the quail on several hunts. We are very excited about our addition of the little English Cocker flushing and retrieving dogs this season. We introduced them with five of our guides this year, and they have been wildly popular. As a matter of fact, they are so popular that some guests are requesting certain flushing dogs next year rather than requesting guides. We plan to expand this program next season to include at least four more of these special dogs in our program.
As soon as we finish up next week, we will begin our spring burning program, and I will tell you more about that in our next blog. It is my very favorite time of the year!
We have had a great hunting season, and have only one more week to go after today.The cover has been exceptional this season, sometimes a bit too exceptional as I think that the advantage has gone to the quail on several hunts. We are very excited about our addition of the little English Cocker flushing and retrieving dogs this season. We introduced them with five of our guides this year, and they have been wildly popular. As a matter of fact, they are so popular that some guests are requesting certain flushing dogs next year rather than requesting guides. We plan to expand this program next season to include at least four more of these special dogs in our program.
As soon as we finish up next week, we will begin our spring burning program, and I will tell you more about that in our next blog. It is my very favorite time of the year!
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