So there I was....28 degrees and hovering. Nothing but a pair of ninja jammies, a pull-over sweater, a Carhardt coat, a hunting vest, two pair of gloves, a sweet beanie, and a couple of guns. Alone, and unafraid in the wilderness. High atop the Wasatch looking down on Strawberry Reservoir and Highway 40. MILES behind enemy lines. Far from civilization, yet well within cell service to be honest. Anyhow, I was hunting the elusive Rocky Mountain Elk. Wapiti as some of my Native American counter-parts may have called him. "Cervus Canadensis." No, that's latin, I'm not talking naughty again. Anyhow, it's my absolute favorite time of year. Of course, I'd rather be hunting him in a nice sweater with camo on it, (it sets off my eyes just so) and a bow, but alas, t'wasn't in the cards this year.
See, this year, Josh again played football. Which I'm TOTALLY down with. Last year he had a horrendous season, and they lost every single game. This year, with a different coaching staff and some good ol' college enginuity, we were going to have a banner year as well. Only...they've lost all five games they've played. Or maybe it's six. I forget. Anyhow, there's like seven bucks in the, "Touchdown Bucket" that they pass around each time our kids make a touchdown. I imagine at the end of the season we'll have enough for a package of 12 hotdogs to throw a post-season party. No buns and home-made ketchup Eddie. Nothin' but the best Clark.
So, anyhow, I told you that, because it esplainas why we didnt go on the archery hunt when it was about forty degrees warmer. I love the archery hunt more, because it's traditionally during the rut (see also: "www.elk-in-luv.com") and because the bulls are out of their mind stupid chasing tail....get it..tail? Tail??? they're a lot easier to shoot. Come on, all is fair in luv and war. Let's be honest. It's not like you didnt get stupid once or twice chasin' a member of the opposite sex around campus. Unless of course you went to BYU, and then it's more of an amble at best. Nothing more than a trot for sure.
Anyhow, so I pulled the trailer over from our lot back to my dad's place on Strawberry. It's on the Soldier Creek side of the lake. Down on a peninsula. Which, is a funny word because I smirk every time I say it. "Pen-in-su-la" try it. It's funny. OK, I never grew up, so sue me. In KID court. Anyhow, so I am off on Fridays so I took the two oldest girls, a.k.a. "Alexia the Huntress" and "Isabelle the Terrible" up with me on Friday to recover the trailer and hit the opening morning hunt on Saturday. Saturday, see, as it turns out, IS a special day. It's the day that the elk have no idea they're being shot at until around noon when they go as high as elkinly possible and hide in the thickest underbrush imaginable for the rest of the month.
So, I took the aforementioned spirit walkers/Viking Princesses up in about three or four inches of snow and proceeded to walk, and walk, (and if you know the rest of the song, AAAAAAAAAND WAAAAALK. (Pioneer Children). See, I always tell my kids when they go out hunting, that pioneer children sang as they walked. So, they need to quit their yappin'. I mean, it's not like they're wearing bonnets and eating hard-tack, for crying out loud we're two miles from a major U.S. Highway! Anyhow, they're pretty good kids. So the girls and I saw a single cow and her calf, which were within my personal pistol range. OK, well I certainly would have scared the be-elkus out of them anyhow. So we put on another four miles or so (knee-deep snow, uphill, both directions) and then we saw a nice 4x4 bull and some cows. Oh, by the way, we're in a spike only unit, which means if the bull has more than one point on each side of his head you best not shoot him. So, anyhow, Isabelle the Terrible starts in again on how cold her little feet are. So, I sit down, in the snow...and pull her little boots off. Much to my chagrine, I find that her two socks (paper thin girl socks) are completely soaked and in very point of fact, freezing. So I pull off he socks in the "warm" 33 degree sun and literally rang them out. I'd say a good half-cup of water came out. Then I did the same for the other boot. By the way, they are the cutest little pink princess boots you've ever seen. But if pressed in public, I'd tell you they were too girly.
So, I gave Izzy my second set of gloves (duh, we're IN the Rocky Mountains!) to put on her feet and then put her wettish boots over the top. Then, in an act of pure love, and really with no other recourse, I put her up on my shoulders and proceeded to climb...and...climb...ANNNND CLIMB... the mountain we'd just come down. Took us over an hour to make it up about a 50 degree slope. I dont know how far it was really. Maybe 1000 yards, maybe more. But luckily we were doing it with all those coats on and the sun beginning to shine. Yeah, worked myself into a thick lather, just like you might see a BYU Coed who's been promised a 5 quart bucket of Chunky Munkey if she promises to remain chaste and virtuous. Anyhow, so I made it up to the ridgeline, wherein the wind began to blow, and the sweat, which now had made it through the second layer of coats was now beginning to evaporate at an exponential rate. Nice and chilly.
So, we made it down to the truck, just shy of two hours after I posted Izzy up on my shoulders. I am extremely happy to report that my little gal Lexi made it the entire way, without so much as pulling on my backpack up or down. I was really proud of my girls. After I made them lay down in the snow, get their butts and feet all sopping wet, and they didnt so much as complain every oh....three minutes or so. So it was a banner day.
So, after Josh's game he came up and we hunted Sunday all day. He of course packed his new 20 gauge shot gun and his small game license and even successfully downed a single forest grouse. That kid amazes me I tell you. Not so much as a single complaint from him. We hiked all over...five hours each morning and five hours each evening at a pretty good rate for 9000-10000 foot elevations. The kid simply amazes me. Well, alone one morning, I saw within pistol range six elk, however the bull running with them was a 3x3 and I had to pass on him. But all in all, our trucks got completely covered in thick mountain mud. We put chains on, we finagled ruts (the road kind, not the luv kind) and just had an amazing time.
We saddled up on Tuesday and then back over to our lot in Fruitland to plant about fifteen English Oak trees on our lot. That was fun. It was around fifty degrees and fairly level doing that so it wasn't that bad. Anyhow, around two I remembered Josh had practice that night and we high-tailed it out of there with the trailer and all the accoutrement for the season.
So, I guess you're caught up at this point. I'm not sure there's a venue for a question and answer period. Just know that a good time was had by all.
Well, as you've probably surmised, biscuits and gravy are awaitin' and I've got to get out there and clean that trailer in the driveway today.
Thanks for reading this far, you get points in Heaven for humoring me. Redeamable for nothing because it's Heaven and they dont take cash or American Express. I sorta believe that Chunky Munkey is the medium of barter. That's just a personal theory so dont belt that out in Sunday School.
OK, all the best and some of the worst your general direction.
Jon
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Hey there...
Hey, how you been? Gosh, it's been a while eh? What's it been? Five, six days? Well let's get you up-to-speed shall we? OK, start off with today, then we can bounce backward, maybe hit some stuff in the middle, back to the beginning and then tie in the end? Sound good to you? Good.
So, today I've been working on an award for a high up muckity-muck. Yeah, I can't go into whom on accounta it's a secret for that individual and one of you would just go and blab that you heard about it and ruin it. Anyhow, I got the tasking last Saturday on my Crackberry from the Chief of Staff and my boss the G-1 (Personnel). So, you dont exactly get to choose your taskings or priorities when you're in such proximity to the flag pole. So, Monday morning I tried to talk the Chief out of it, and he of course reset my opinion back to True North for me. He's kind like that. Anyhow, so I wrote the award on Tuesday and then had it rewritten for me on Wednesday, then again I re-re-rewrote it today. Suffice it to say, when you have so many Chiefs (pardon the pun) it gets old bein' the indian. But dont worry, I always liked that part about you. I prefer ONE Chief, many indians. Good wompum. Hummm. Anyhow, it pretty much took up all of my week, and interspersed betwixt all that, I had to put in my travel for my upcoming course in October, fix a mobilization order, Command some stuff, and interview replacement commanders. I tell you, no rest for the wicked.
So, I also, in order to survive, Facebooked (to use it as a verb) a grundle this week. You may or may not have seen my efforts. It's tough for me to focus at work as I have a severe case of adult ADHD. Or maybe it's ACDC, I cant remember. Anyhow, I can focus on not less than three things simultaneously. Couple that with a steady stream of people walking into my office and people waiting in the hall, it gets really difficult to stay on one thing for more than about a minute and a half. Oh, that reminds me. The Chaplain. He's a good guy right? But he comes back around every now and again to check on me. See, I made the mistake of telling him about an issue I was dealing with, and now I'm on his rotational rounds. He's just missing the clipboard. Plus he gets mad at me for not coming to visit him, in which I wonder, 'when would I have time'???
So, OHHHHHHHHHH man, the best PART! So tomorrow I'm headed up elk hunting. I. AM. STO-KED!!! seriously I LOVE elk hunting. This year I'm taking my pistol. My .45 Long Colt. Dad's going to loan me a .45 LC Rifle of his, it's a lever-action and just a beautiful rifle. It's a Henry Golden Boy and just a pleasure to shoot. Going to be even better putting a round through some spike elk I imagine. Did I mention I LOVE elk hunting? Oh man. The snow is falling in the higher elevations and with any luck, I'll be stuck in colder weather all the way through and including Tuesday or Wednesday. I took all of next week off and dont really have to make an appearance until Saturday of next for drill. In which I'll conduct a change of command with an as-yet un-named successor.
Gosh I dont know what else to tell you really. I think you're about caught up. OH except I bought two 250 gallon water tanks to put up at the lot. One is going to be on a metal stand and gravity feed into the trailer, and the other is to fill up and haul water in. I tell you, I feel like I'm taming the frontier. I practically killed me a Bar, when I was only three. Lever-action guns, hauling water, mountains, snow....with any luck, snowshoes. It's like I'm living my own private version of Jeremiah Johnson (Great show by the way) I have it if you need to borrow it.
OK now I probably left something out, but you know it's only because I forgot because I'm so excited. I'm packing tonight and I'll leave after I register the truck manana. First the reinspection at Jiffy Lube, then the on-the-spot renewal, and nothing but a vapor trail from me for five days. Oh, last thing, do me a flavor, say a little prayer for Josh and his team. They really need it. I'm going to miss this game, mostly because my priorities are all screwed up, but I really want him to kick butt and take names. The entire team. They need the confidence boost. So, anyhow, while you're sayin' your prayers tonight, thanking the Man Upstairs for all the gifts we've been given, through a little request out there for my little man.
K, seriously, Dora is now full-blast, piano lessons are about to end and I gotta get to my job as an invested father, husband and friend. All the best to you and your'en.
J
So, today I've been working on an award for a high up muckity-muck. Yeah, I can't go into whom on accounta it's a secret for that individual and one of you would just go and blab that you heard about it and ruin it. Anyhow, I got the tasking last Saturday on my Crackberry from the Chief of Staff and my boss the G-1 (Personnel). So, you dont exactly get to choose your taskings or priorities when you're in such proximity to the flag pole. So, Monday morning I tried to talk the Chief out of it, and he of course reset my opinion back to True North for me. He's kind like that. Anyhow, so I wrote the award on Tuesday and then had it rewritten for me on Wednesday, then again I re-re-rewrote it today. Suffice it to say, when you have so many Chiefs (pardon the pun) it gets old bein' the indian. But dont worry, I always liked that part about you. I prefer ONE Chief, many indians. Good wompum. Hummm. Anyhow, it pretty much took up all of my week, and interspersed betwixt all that, I had to put in my travel for my upcoming course in October, fix a mobilization order, Command some stuff, and interview replacement commanders. I tell you, no rest for the wicked.
So, I also, in order to survive, Facebooked (to use it as a verb) a grundle this week. You may or may not have seen my efforts. It's tough for me to focus at work as I have a severe case of adult ADHD. Or maybe it's ACDC, I cant remember. Anyhow, I can focus on not less than three things simultaneously. Couple that with a steady stream of people walking into my office and people waiting in the hall, it gets really difficult to stay on one thing for more than about a minute and a half. Oh, that reminds me. The Chaplain. He's a good guy right? But he comes back around every now and again to check on me. See, I made the mistake of telling him about an issue I was dealing with, and now I'm on his rotational rounds. He's just missing the clipboard. Plus he gets mad at me for not coming to visit him, in which I wonder, 'when would I have time'???
So, OHHHHHHHHHH man, the best PART! So tomorrow I'm headed up elk hunting. I. AM. STO-KED!!! seriously I LOVE elk hunting. This year I'm taking my pistol. My .45 Long Colt. Dad's going to loan me a .45 LC Rifle of his, it's a lever-action and just a beautiful rifle. It's a Henry Golden Boy and just a pleasure to shoot. Going to be even better putting a round through some spike elk I imagine. Did I mention I LOVE elk hunting? Oh man. The snow is falling in the higher elevations and with any luck, I'll be stuck in colder weather all the way through and including Tuesday or Wednesday. I took all of next week off and dont really have to make an appearance until Saturday of next for drill. In which I'll conduct a change of command with an as-yet un-named successor.
Gosh I dont know what else to tell you really. I think you're about caught up. OH except I bought two 250 gallon water tanks to put up at the lot. One is going to be on a metal stand and gravity feed into the trailer, and the other is to fill up and haul water in. I tell you, I feel like I'm taming the frontier. I practically killed me a Bar, when I was only three. Lever-action guns, hauling water, mountains, snow....with any luck, snowshoes. It's like I'm living my own private version of Jeremiah Johnson (Great show by the way) I have it if you need to borrow it.
OK now I probably left something out, but you know it's only because I forgot because I'm so excited. I'm packing tonight and I'll leave after I register the truck manana. First the reinspection at Jiffy Lube, then the on-the-spot renewal, and nothing but a vapor trail from me for five days. Oh, last thing, do me a flavor, say a little prayer for Josh and his team. They really need it. I'm going to miss this game, mostly because my priorities are all screwed up, but I really want him to kick butt and take names. The entire team. They need the confidence boost. So, anyhow, while you're sayin' your prayers tonight, thanking the Man Upstairs for all the gifts we've been given, through a little request out there for my little man.
K, seriously, Dora is now full-blast, piano lessons are about to end and I gotta get to my job as an invested father, husband and friend. All the best to you and your'en.
J
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Good morning
Hey, I just wanted to tell you good morning. I've been busy lately so I haven't had much time. Life is what happens while you're busy making plans right? Oh man, where to start? Well of course this week has been standard off-the-shelf normal. Football practice three nights a week, dance, piano lessons, kids off track. Today Josh has a game and I really want them to do well. We've scored two touchdowns in four games and it's a little discouraging. Well, to be fair they were playing, "up" for those teams meaning that they were out of our league...well...sorta. Anyhow, today starts the regular season play. I'm excited for Josh. I'd much rather watch one of my son's games than any other sporting event. Stacey laughs because the entire season I've got a hoarse voice from yelling from the sidelines. It honestly takes over me. I've had to excuse myself to go get a conciliatory Diet Luv just to cope with the stress of linemen not firing off or handoff's gone awry and missed tackles. Yeah, I'm THAT dad.
So, anyhow, last night we had an end of Summer BBQ in the Clique de Sac. That's what they're calling it now. Wrench (AKA "Greg") termed it that. So we dragged out three grills and some tables and chairs and just went to town. I learned yesterday that 100.7 is, "the COOLEST" radio station. Which, now that 99.1 doesnt play my old country favorites could be entirely possible. Oh, I took the ATV in to have it worked on. It was having electrical issues and I expected that the Flux Capicitor was broken and it might be around three hundred bucks to fix it. Turns out, it was just the battery terminal ends thingies. Sixty bucks. Same day service. *sigh of relief* Now I have the money to take Big Green in for some necessary services. One of which are the tie-rod ends, and the other is the fact that she failed inspection on her braking. Yeah, apparently all FOUR tires are supposed to brake. WHATEVER, I say. Brakes are a crutch for people who can't anticipate light changes and down-shift.
So, I'm thinking I may sell Green. Dont tell her I said that. But we've plain outgrown her. We're literally out of seatbelts once the little one comes. So, our next option is the dreaded Suburban or an Excursion. I'd really like one in a Diesel. It makes sense to sell Green, but I hate to part with her. Kind of running out of places to park vehicles too. Anyhow, we'll figure it out. Dont you worry your pretty little heads about it.
So, I guess, you're about up to speed at this point. I didnt start any fights this week. I've been reverent in church. I've minded my p's and q's and I've even tried really really hard to be a good husband. I'm giving myself a B+ this week. Marked down for getting my butt handed to me, *again* at racquetball and marked back up for being who and what I should be.
OK, seriously, you know I love you to pieces. I wish ya all the best. This one is anticlimatic at best, but I'm pretty sure that's just what the doctor ordered for our platonic situation. ;)
Alright, pick a favorite song to set the tone. I gotta bounce. Josh is making the sausage and the biscuits are done. I'm friggin' starvin'. All the best, be good and keep fighting the good fight.
Always,
J
So, anyhow, last night we had an end of Summer BBQ in the Clique de Sac. That's what they're calling it now. Wrench (AKA "Greg") termed it that. So we dragged out three grills and some tables and chairs and just went to town. I learned yesterday that 100.7 is, "the COOLEST" radio station. Which, now that 99.1 doesnt play my old country favorites could be entirely possible. Oh, I took the ATV in to have it worked on. It was having electrical issues and I expected that the Flux Capicitor was broken and it might be around three hundred bucks to fix it. Turns out, it was just the battery terminal ends thingies. Sixty bucks. Same day service. *sigh of relief* Now I have the money to take Big Green in for some necessary services. One of which are the tie-rod ends, and the other is the fact that she failed inspection on her braking. Yeah, apparently all FOUR tires are supposed to brake. WHATEVER, I say. Brakes are a crutch for people who can't anticipate light changes and down-shift.
So, I'm thinking I may sell Green. Dont tell her I said that. But we've plain outgrown her. We're literally out of seatbelts once the little one comes. So, our next option is the dreaded Suburban or an Excursion. I'd really like one in a Diesel. It makes sense to sell Green, but I hate to part with her. Kind of running out of places to park vehicles too. Anyhow, we'll figure it out. Dont you worry your pretty little heads about it.
So, I guess, you're about up to speed at this point. I didnt start any fights this week. I've been reverent in church. I've minded my p's and q's and I've even tried really really hard to be a good husband. I'm giving myself a B+ this week. Marked down for getting my butt handed to me, *again* at racquetball and marked back up for being who and what I should be.
OK, seriously, you know I love you to pieces. I wish ya all the best. This one is anticlimatic at best, but I'm pretty sure that's just what the doctor ordered for our platonic situation. ;)
Alright, pick a favorite song to set the tone. I gotta bounce. Josh is making the sausage and the biscuits are done. I'm friggin' starvin'. All the best, be good and keep fighting the good fight.
Always,
J
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