November 1st to some are the candy hangovers left from Halloween. Sometimes you will even share the bounty with your children .
But for me, November 1st signifies my status as a hunting widow.
“I just got a new rifle for my wife. It was the best trade I ever made”
Ladies: have you ever played this game with your partner? It’s the middle of the night when you hear the faint stirring of a baby. You think “im gonna wait and let him go.” You bide your time as the stirring becomes a rustle. You toss a bit, just to help wake him; throwing an advantage. The rustling becomes a gurgling. You move side to side, kicking your feet this way and that, sighing softly. The gurgling changes to a intermittent cry that steadily grows louder. You sleep moan and move in a more decisive way only to lose the game when he says sleepily”. Honey, while you are up, want to check on the baby ?”
All 3 babies and I never won that game. However, hunting season approaches and Scott will instinctively rise well before the alarm to prepare for a full day of driving around and consuming homemade cinnamon buns. I would be an incredibly rich woman if I could ever figure out how to change the sounds of a baby monitor. Instead of cooing, the man hears the grunting of a bull moose or the bleating of a deer (what sounds do they make???)
Instant success. In the off seasons, maybe add additional sounds of a beer can cracking or a voice that says “ the fish are biting bud”
Insomuch as I love wine and cheese, I cannot fault Scott in his hobbies.
But I go not willingly.
Of course I try to feign interest, “Did you catch anything today? Were the other hunters nice to you? That camo is super slimming on you.” before dropping my eyes to the magazine resting on my lap.
Perhaps I am jealous. The attention and care given to a mule deer does not necessarily translate the same with my doe eyes. Sigh.
So it goes ….
As the season begins, I want so much for Scott to know; that every whisper in the wind that catches his ear, the rustling of the leaves that leads the way, the glorious sunrises that reveals the break of dawn and the warm glow of the sunsets in the rear view mirror is Ryan sharing this time honored tradition with him.
That is true for everything we do. Wherever our boy finds himself, he is never far from the everyday joys and experiences we share.