RARE PLEASURES

Yesterday turned out to be a day of rare pleasures all wrapped in the golden hues of autumn. I had an unexpected two hour break when I took my two younger children, Tessa and Wylie, to the local library for a homeschool science program; I had planned to run errands while the kids were there and thought the program would last an hour. It actually was a two-hour program so I left my car parked at the library and "walked errands" in town, enjoying the beautiful weather and stopping to visit with friends at various places.

Back home, my husband, Mark, arrived shortly after me and asked me to go bird hunting with him. We went and bought my small game license and headed into the woods. What a gift to be walking down old logging roads with Mark and our 7 month old yellow lab, Cass...orange and yellow leaves sifting down, the smell of the sun-warmed earth, the eagerness of the young dog as she began to realize her purpose. At one point, Mark and Cass ventured off the road to work the woods and try to flush a bird out to me. Suddenly, 40 yards ahead of me, a big 10-point buck soundlessly leaped out of the woods and crossed the road into the thick tangle of pines on the other side. I just stood and marveled at how quietly such a big animal could move through the woods.

Later, on another road, we surprised a grouse feeding and I shot it, evening the score with Mark and Ramsey, who both already had bagged a bird this season. Further on we flushed two more but they had the element of surprise this time and lived to tell the tale.

We came home to the smell of supper in the crockpot, the whole family around the table, and a game of cribbage before bed, in which I soundly beat my husband. Like I said, it was a day of rare pleasures...