I have an idea. My idea has drawn some doubt. Mockery even. But I will not be deterred. Well, I don’t feel quite that strongly about it. Let’s just go with I won’t be deterred from talking about it. Living with a hunter, I have discovered that one does not simply pick…
Once, years ago, I tried to get Don into the one outdoor activity I really enjoy. Skiing. I was hoping to cultivate a Johnny Come Lately – Donny Come Lately? – Shaun White. What I actually cultivated was a 6’2” human snowball with a sprained finger. It was years before that…
There’s no easy way to say this. I hate my garage. I mean, sure. I don’t like the shed much. Once I found the spider eggs growing on my ski bag, I was pretty much done. But I don’t keep anything in the shed anymore. Grow spiders on my skis and our…
Before anything else, we really need to talk about The Cabin. I am going to be dirty and honest with you about The Cabin. I think it’s time. When a boy you’re dating tells you his grandfather has a cabin, you think he’s trying to impress you. Or, in my case, you wonder…
I live with three bowhunters. For bowhunters, the quality of their bow and arrows and associated supplies is paramount. Consequently, there is an archery store favored by the hunters in my house. I kid you not – there is more than one place to purchase archery supplies. One day over the winter,…
The Cabin gets shut down for the winter. Sure, there’s the odd weekend between Christmas and Groundhog Day, weekends that see at least one Rank return to our heirloom estate in the woods. But for the most part, The Cabin is too cold, too remote to access in the winter. Winterizing The…
Before I begin my story, I need to get something out of the way. Mom. Stop reading. There’s information here you shouldn’t have. Just walk away. Now that that is done, I can talk to you guys. Seriously, Mom. Stop reading. I’m pretty sure I misinterpreted a conversation. I’m also…
Things have gone too far. I have tolerated Don’s embrace of the outdoors, even though he restrained himself from that embrace until we were well into our marriage. Waited until we had kids and car payments and gravity had taken its toll and nobody was going anywhere. I have endured hikes that are…
As it turns out, hunter education is hard. In the online hunter ed program, I’m on unit 9. Out of 11. I registered in April. This is June. I really don’t want to hunt. For starters, a lot of hunting involves hiking through forested landscape in the dark. That’s…
I don’t know where you guys keep your fox skulls and deer vertebrae. We keep ours in the laundry room. What better place to put gross animal bits but where you keep your clean clothes, am I right? So I was surprised when the deer antlers, wrapped in plastic, just sat in the garage, week…