Medical bonding time

My middle son is getting surgery again. This time on his foot, his heel specifically.

This follows scar revision of the hand, an ACL repair, appendectomy resulting in abscess and more surgery for placement of drain in abscess which wore a hole in an artery causing an arterial bleed and more surgery. He has had mono, bad flu, broken clavicle (2,) broken thumb (2), concussions (2).

We have spent a lot of time in medical facilities. We call it bonding time. We talk, joke, philosophize, dream, and actually enjoy the time. But, all the time, I worry. Until he is out of surgery, without complications, and stable, I worry.

Hey, he's still my baby.

Non-existent deer

Google image

There are no deer to speak of in the Fort Rock Unit. I looked. I tracked. I got up way too early, before dawn, in 9 degree weather. My family and friends and I covered scored of miles over the weekend, moving, moving, moving.

Sitting, listening, sneaking, strategizing. And no amount of the aforementioned will scare up deer that are not there. Few tracks, few sightings, no killing.

Well, that's why they call it 'hunting', and not 'harvesting' or 'killing'. We went, we hunted. Score: deer 1, humans 0.

Take that, you folks who think that humans have the advantage. And, between all the hunters, we put hundreds of license and tag dollars into the game management system. Much more than the average bunny hugger does in a lifetime. And ya know what? I'm glad to do it. My family and I bonded, we practiced our sneak and stalk, we got out in the woods, and we got tired and dirty.

That means that the season was a success.