Day 81

Welcome to America during hard economic times... The sun has been up for about two hours now and there's no sign of the guys. Haven't heard any shooting at all, so I'm guessing that the rain is having an effect on things this morning. What they need is a cold, clear morning. The deer are all bedded down today and aren't going to be moving in this weather.

Everybody is out today. I saw some of the older guys driving down the hill to the deli. They go down there to dry out and will be back around noon.

For the guys on this hill, the stakes are pretty high this year. In the next farmhouse up the hill, there's a family whose having a tough time. He was a pilot until a few months ago when he just one day didn't have a job anymore. The family is one of the newer ones on the hill. They've lived there for about eight years now. They have six kids and she works as a substitute for the school... their only "steady income" right now. When they moved in, they put everything they had into their new home. Now they're in danger of losing it and, while winter hasn't hit yet, heating is going to be a major issue.

Everyone on the hill knows and consequently filed for every tag they could get...even us. The husband and I don't need more that two deer at the most. The third will go to this family, along with the extras everyone else gets. They will need at least six to get through a year and could probably use eight.

Could this family go on the welfare system? Yes they could, but I don't see that happening in this community...especially with a family like this one. They are hard working people who have come into hard times and I know that this neighborhood is going to take care of them because, here, we rely on each other, not the government. This is how we survive up here and always have.

During my husband's deployments, which lasted almost two years, I wasn't alone. Every eye on this mountain was watching and when I needed help, it was here. Not once was my dignity imposed upon. Things would just happen. If the snow was coming too fast, the snow plough fairy would show up and dig us out in the middle of the night and you'd better believe that my mailbox was always kept accessible. If my tire was flat, one of the guys would show up and help me fix it. If we needed food, it would be in a box by the door. There would never be a note or anything else asking for recognition, just a quiet reassurance that everyone was standing behind us on this hill.

So, yes, we eat deer meat up here. We can buy meat in the stores, but if we had to do that for all of our meat, everyone in the county would be on food stamps because no one could afford to do it. The deer and game, the gardens and the fruit trees are all an integral part of life here and, yes, we do survive on them. The stores are used for toilet paper, laundry soap and supplementing the bulk of our diet that we provide for ourselves and our neighbors. Some may see this as being "primitive." We see it as independence and, as a community, we are very proud of it. To us, "primitive" would be standing by and doing nothing but watching as our neighbors get devoured by bureaucracy when part of the solution is walking around eating our front yards.

I guess it all depends upon the culture you live in.

The guys came in around 10:00 am. I'd like to think it was the aroma of my made from scratch biscuits, but I don't think it was. A father was seen walking the woods with his eldest son. If he's come down this far, it means there was nothing moving up at his place and, as they move down the hill, the "first fruits" of the season and the mountain are being gifted to them. There are enough deer for all of us here, and to us, there is nothing more important than the lessons of independence that father is teaching his son this day.

Happy wandering!

The Writer...and her dog, Bear

Day 80

Oh God... "Opening Day" is tomorrow... For those of you not familiar with the rural life, there is a day every year that signals the hoped for decimation of the local deer population. "Two buck and a doe" are the hoped for commodity.

In the sticks, that's how families survive through the winter.

Tomorrow is the day that all of the men, and many of the women, on the hill here will go out and try for their first deer of the season. Sunrise is happening around 6:03 am, so at 6:02 and about 25 seconds it will sound like a cannon is going off on this hill. By 6:10, the hill will be silent and those that "got theirs" will be heading back to hang it off of the tree in the front yard. Those that didn't will sit and wait...to no avail, until 10:00 am or so in the rain.

It's a warm hunting season this year.

So, I'm planning a bacon and egg breakfast at 10:00 am with the Virginia bacon we brought up from down South from the Peanut Guy. Win, loose or draw, the bacon hits the grill at 10:00 and if the guys aren't there to get it... well... Bear and Willie will have a nice breakfast!

All of this has brought the problem of "how to dress" to the forefront for Bear. Hunters shoot at anything during season... well, non-locals anyway. We don't have too many of those on the hill here, but once in a while they do show up and Bear is exactly the type of dog that doesn't come home during this season...not that he's ever off leash, but these guys have been known to shoot horses and cattle in their lust to "kill Bambie." The thing that really gets me is that the non-locals are notorious for taking the yearlings... we call them "ling-lings" who have just lost their spots. The act as though they've taken a monster, when in point of fact, they are thinning the herd from the wrong end.

Anyway, Bear has been a concern in all of this because he really needs his morning walks! Let me rephrase that... I really need him to have his morning walk because if he doesn't, he drives me completely nuts for the rest of the day! So the problem was, what to walk him in. The husband came up with the answer! He had a half-vest that almost but not quite really fits bear and is blaze orange. Should do the trick, but I may just have to get him a hat as well. We shall see how the season goes.

Long season this year, so "the big drive" won't be for another three weeks. That is where the guys go through, "drive" down the hill and do the major culling on the herd. I know it sounds barbaric, but it's a lot better than watching the herd die during the winter and interfering with the cattle herds up the hill. These cattle feed the area as well as the deer. What isn't taken for meat for the hunter's families goes right into the food banks up here and ... well, the food banks have been getting hit pretty hard lately. Between the hunting and the churches... we're hoping that at least the families with children will be able to have holiday dinners this year.

Happy wandering!

The Writer...and her dog, Bear

Day 78-79

With the "Bounding Bear Back" life has been a little bit hectic around here for the past couple of days. Outside time has once again become a necessity and Bear is getting a lot of it! He's feeling good, eating very well again and driving us crazy, which is what a Bear should do, I think.

Veteran's Day passed pretty quietly here. The husband and Vet did the ceremonies in town and indulged in the television Veteran's Day marathon. Both of the boys called from down South. Its always good to hear their voices and talk for a bit. They are both stationed down there but don't really get the chance to spend that much time together as they are kind of busy.

It's been a long war... very long.

Happy wandering!

The Writer...and her dog, Bear

Day 76 and 77...

Boxer Bear is back, brazenly bouncing beyond boundaries, boldly barreling boisterously before balls and broadly bounding by his buddy, the William, tonight...

Happy wandering!

The Writer...and her dog, Bear

HEY! HEY! HEY!!!!!!!!!

I GOT IT!!!!!!!


Due to technical difficulties, the posting of the winner of "The First Annual Really Silly Halloween Dog Picture Contest" has been slightly ... delayed in presenting on the site, but I am happy to announce that FINALLY, I figured out how to get it up here. Thus, without further adue and many congratulations I now present the winning entry in the above mentioned contest. Many thanks to phaird over at Dog Parks and for all of his assistance with this endeavor and congratulations again to –Luck O The Labrador!!!!

"Big Dog Discrimination

As a big dog owner all of my adult life, I have found there is a certain level of discrimination against the 50+ pound doggy crowd. Some hotels and resorts that are "pet friendly" are actually restricted to small dogs. Some people are more fearful of big dogs just because they are big. Houseguests don't want a big dog on their lap but probably wouldn't mind a small dog or cat.

I'm sure there are other examples but the most discouraging, especially this time of year, is the very small selection of big dog Halloween costumes! Last year, in order to participate in our local doggy day care's Halloween party, I went out in search of a costume for Finn, our 70-lb Labrador. I didn't have much luck as almost all of the costumes were only provided in small and medium sizes. I ultimately settled on a tuxedo and top hat outfit that came in size large. It appeared that all of the super cute costumes - the hot dog, the pumpkin, the dragon, etc. - were reserved for the small dogs.

I quickly discovered that even though the packaging on the tuxedo costume indicated it would fit a 50+ pound dog, I could barely get it zipped. Finn looked like a stuffed sausage as the costume fabric pinched and stretched across his chest and back. Worried that the circulation was being cut off to his legs and chest, the nice staff at doggy day care took some photos and quickly took the costume off.

So this year, I gave up on the costume idea and went with a simple neck scruff that was more comfortable and just as festive. As you can see by the picture, Finn was less than pleased to be wearing it but was a good sport overall! Happy Halloween!"

WOO HOOO! Congratulations Finn for a great job done!!!

Happy wandering!

The Writer...and her dog, Bear

Day 74 and 75

And life is good. Bear is really feeling pretty much himself again and to celebrate his successful surgery, we went out today and got him an appropriately sized Kong. We already did have a Kong that we got for the William right after we got Bear, but Bear kept stealing it, a fact that I was really unhappy about because its the tiny one for 0-14 pound dogs...which Bear is not. I was really afraid of him using it because, for him, its a real choke hazard. He loved this thing though and I kept finding it in his crate... where all treasures now go.

So, anyway, we got one for the 60-90 pound dogs and stuffed it full of dog biscuits. He's been going to town with it ever since! Definitely an excellent deal and worthy of the price!!!

The presentation went well on Thursday night and I think there were a few more signatures added to the petition, which is good. I always get nervous before presentations like that but, aside from the fact that there was no sound and I had to use a boom box for part of it, it went pretty smoothly. It does me a lot of good to get out and talk to people about this issue, especially college kids.

I'm still working on getting Luck of the Labrador up here and will hopefully do so this weekend. I have her post, I just can't get the picture to transfer so we're going to have to work on that. Otherwise, it looks like a quiet, rainy weekend here.

Happy wandering!

The Writer...and her dog, Bear

Day 70-73

My apologies for not posting sooner! Its been a busy week here in the States and we have a new President. Either way the election went, I have a big presentation to do tonight and have been preparing for this along with taking Bear out walking!

He's doing great and feeling pretty much himself again which is great to see! Biggest problem we are having at this point is keeping him from romping. That we can live with but has caused a great deal of frequent short walks. He is also finally sleeping through the night, pretty much now. He's still waking up but its usually around midnight so I'm getting an uninterrupted chunk of sleep again which I really needed!

Normally I won't get political on this blog, but with the election just passed and some of the things that I am working on, I really have to pass this on. The presentation I am doing tonight is a series of power points about my two grand-daughters. Both of these little girls were born premature. The first was born at 25 weeks gestation, 5 months, and the second at 35 weeks. A normal pregnancy is 40 weeks. As you can guess, this is a huge issue to me and, not surprisingly, after seeing what these two little ones endured in the early days and months of their lives, I support The March of Dimes in their efforts to see that every baby in the US gets a normal 40 week pregnancy.

Currently, 1 out of every 8 babies is being born in this country premature. Every day, 1400 babies are being born too soon here. One third of all babies who die in this country do so because of the effects of prematurity. What they, and their families endure is heart-wrenching and if there is a way to stop this from happening, I want it to become a reality.

If you feel that way too, please consider visiting www.marchofdimes.com , and signing the petition to continue funding for research, treatment and training for these little ones and their families. These children don't have a voice, but I do. As this is National Prematurity Awareness month, I'm using it as well as my signature in the hope that it will help them.

I hope that you will too.

Happy wandering!

The Writer...and her dog, Bear