OPINION? EVERYBODY HAS ONE

I think I'll go hunting

I want to go hunting, not to kill anything, just to tramp through the woods looking for tracks and rubs and such.

The leaves are falling and heaping up at the back door and I am required to sweep each and every time I enter or leave the house. I could be a wild and free man in the woods. I wouldn’t have to bring in any game, just act tired and disgusted that I returned empty handed.

I might get chilled to the bone and require some fresh hot coffee to thaw me out and a warm shower to ease my aching bones. I am quite sure a bowl of steaming chili would bring me 75 percent back to life and I could go out again tomorrow to fill the larders of the household. Giggle.

The male offspring are worrying about the week they have wanted off to go skiing in Colorado. I remind them that I am getting on up there in years and they should think about all the work I do while they are gone, then talk awhile and then sorta limp off to do somemore heavy farm work. Gotta strip all the milk when milking!

I can’t really do that to my close relative. She is wise to my ways and does not expect any skillet filling game when I come in from a day of hunting. I suspect she knows all I hunt are tracks and wild things to see. I have hinted around for one of those digital game cameras and will be downright disgusted if one is not under the Christmas tree this year with my name on it.

I am sorta at a rest period right now and thinking about taking a little road trip to the Flint Hills of Kansas. I sure like to travel and admire God’s handiwork. That is some of the prettiest country in the world and cattle do good there too. I tried to buy a place there one time but didn’t have enough starch in my britches to make the deal fly. Sure was disappointed, but now it seems like it was right for me to miss that one and swing this one. I wouldn’t ever get ahead if I were in control!

I am right proud of therain again. Now, never satisfied, I wish a good hard one would fill the ponds. Some of my neighbors have grass but no water and are selling off a right smart of their herds. I hate to see it happen, but then they may build back a better and more profitable one. Can’t guess the future.

I could hear the horn honking late yesterday evening while I was sorting some bolts and nails in the shop. My cell phone won’t work in the metal building so my close relative honks for me to come to the house. Meal times are changing with the sunsets being so early.

It is my opinion, and everyone has one, a feller should be thankful for the change of seasons, even if he has a favorite one of the four! We will spend more time together in the coming months with our families and friends due to the darkness and cold, and that is a blessing in itself! Holidays are nearing and the joys of them are many, as are the pies! There are never too many pies for us working men!

Take time to look around today and enjoy the crispness of the air! I think I am going hunting!

Bill is the pen name used by a local writer and longtime resident of the Gravette area.

Opinion, Pages 6 on 10/26/2011