Opening Day - Bow and Arrow

They say here in the Adirondacks, when winter hits - you either get very artistic and creative. . . or very drunk.

Although it is a bit hard to see from this picture, there is a tidy number of customers outside the liquor store in Gloversville, at 9:20 A.M.!!!!!!!!! The place was fairly bustling with activity. I better stock up on more paints and fibers. Quick.

I'm not pointing any fingers. I happened to be across the street at the hardware store only because I was returning home from physical therapy and needed to run some errands. We were all in actual and vocal physical pain due to the inclement weather. It sounded somewhat like the battlefield after the North took over Atlanta. It was damp and chilly this morning, and we are all suffering. Loudly. Anyone with just the slightest touch of arthritis will tell you that cold and damp weather is brutal. It started last night, and got worse as the barometric pressure dropped. So the pool was particularly glorious, albeit empty. Because here in New York, tomorrow is opening day for bow and arrow hunting, the usual characters in the therapy pool were out doing manly things like securing the tree stands, cleaning their guns and stalking their territory. It was noticably testosterone empty in the gym. I guess all that therapy is important when you want to at least be a capable marksman. I do know that a humane hunter is one who expects to take the shot and end it right there, not follow the poor animal with near-misses until it finally collapses. I'm not a big fan of hunting, yet, although I totally recognize the necessity and the integrity of it. I have been seeing turkey all over the property and the roadsides these past few weeks. I wonder all the time if they are just beginning to feel safe and enjoying the cool and crisp weather now that they are bigger and more capable of being on their own. I can recognize the family units and see who the mothers and fathers are. I have become maudlin in my recognition that next week at this time, if all goes as planned, they will be in someone's freezer. And I am practical enough to hope that it is my freezer. I am fortunate enough to be married to a morale hunter and the animal's dignity and welfare is first and foremost in his mind. When I pointed out that we could probably take a deer off the back deck while still in our pajamas and never even have to put down our cup of coffee, Jerry pointed out that while that may be true, it was not a desirable or sportsmanlike way of tagging your deer. I guess he's right, although the ability to do anything productive in my pajamas thrills the living beejeesus out of me. Speaking of bees, there has been no honey harvest as of yet. Jerry is leery of taking any of the honey from his hives due to the fact that they had been cleaned out so thoroughly in the spring when they were robbed by the bears. Although the bee yard looks sufficiently protected to me, and I choose to believe the almanac which says winter this year will be mild, I think we should get SOME honey out of this deal. I'm ready and waiting to taste this honey that has been so thoroughly nursed and protected. Orders and reservations are pouring in, and I don't have an answer as to when. Do we live dangerous and take some of the honey? Or protect all the bees and their crop so they can live through the winter with abundant honey for themselves, and take what is left in the spring? My big question is this - who gets the honey first? Us? Or Them? The bears I mean. Do we wait for spring so they can laugh at us again? Or perform a pre-emtive strike and get what could be surplus honey now? I'll keep you posted. When it comes to the bees, it's not my call.