BLOOD AND TEA

 First snow last night. We got about a half inch at WSSP and a slight dusting here at the shack. The roofers finally showed up at the shul yesterday afternoon and I'm keeping my fingers crossed they'll get it done before the next storm. Winter's fast approaching. In the meantime I've been stalking turkeys in the big meadow at WSS. The first time out I spotted a good flock high on the hill. The problem was they spotted me at the same time and although they didn't spook, they went on high alert. Back tracking, I was able to sneak within 200 yards, before hitting the crunchy leaves. They went up like a flock of crows. I never had a chance.
   Last night I saw that the field was empty, so set up on the high side and started calling. I wasn't there 5 mins. before I spotted something black coming out of the woods on the low side, 250 yards across the field. It was a jake on a dead run for me. At about 75 yards he stopped, staining his neck, and mimicking my call, looking for me. Then he turned and started to head away. I slowly scratched on the call. He turned and ran right down my gun barrel. The only problem was I had forgotten my glasses in the car. The shotgun sights were a blur. At 30 yards I tried to settle the sights on his neck, and fired.......

   Yesterday I talked to Savage. He told me our old friend Hkabann was not going to make it north for deer season. He wasn't doing too well fighting his cancer in Fla. I'd called Savage, bitching about my roofers. After he informed me about H, he followed it with a little wisdom- "Guess that puts your roof problems in perspective." He was right. I'd spent the past few years watching my parents die. Now friends were starting to go. On the weekend Sister NOYB had asked if I had any fresh blood for a friend of her's, that was in a bad way. He craved blood for some reason. It so happened that I had a jelly jar full of frozen deer blood in my freezer, that I used for drawing. As we sat having tea in my kitchen, I pulled out the jar and gave it to her. It sounded crackpot, but who was I to question the wishes of a sick man? A little blessing of the blood and she was on her way back to the city.

   I'm not big on praying, but last night after missing the shot on that turkey (yeah, I missed- twice) I laid down in those leaves, cradling the 12 ga. and laughed so hard I almost cried.  I wished the old man was alive to hear the story of that lonely jake running lickety-split across that field, only to have me miss. And this led me to prayer. I said a little prayer for H, too sick to hunt and even one for that guy, who I had never met, that was drinking the deer blood from the doe and buck I had killed with the bow. In the words of Savage- "That should put things in perspective."