.

new traditions

I spent many years cutting down dead trees in the fall. It's an amazing time to be out in the woods. You can get engulfed in a 40 foot wall of orange and red with rustling leaves in hyper-stereo all around you as it always seems to be windy. The last few houses I've owned had fireplaces ( the last one had two ) and the first proper house Connie and I moved into when we got married had an over sized garage with a workshop and wood stove. Dropping and splitting wood was something to look forward to, knowing you were going to be snowed in soon and should appreciate being able to run around outside in a sweatshirt.



Our new house has a gas fireplace and I welcome the change. No more bark loose in the house and babysitting the fire after it's gone down but not out. No more cutting wood this fall.



I ended up spending a little quality outside time hunting with my friend Todd, his dog Norman and Connies brother Ken and it ended being a fine trade off. Still loud and life threatening, still outside and you bring home meat instead of wood. Good times.

I've noticed more visitors from the UK lately to the blog. You guys have a long heritage of bird hunting. Does anyone actually wear tweeds, use double barrel shotguns and have a glass of port and a pipe afterward? Do you or your loved ones hunt grouse, pheasant or something else this time of year? How about in Deutschland? How about you Dutch diplomats?

posted by wes @ 6:40 AM