November’s Moods

November has been very moody thus far, throwing epic tantrums. We’ve gotten sun, clouds, rain, ice, snow, graupel, back to sun, colder, warmer, coat on, coat off…sometimes all in one day. There were times over the weekend that EJ and I looked out of the window and debated whether it was raining or snowing. It was difficult to tell if it was rainy snow or snowy rain. Well, no one can accuse Michigan weather of being boring.

Theo (the cat) always accompanies me when I go out to open the coop in the mornings and to gather the eggs in the afternoon, which I think is endearing. He wanders around while I do my chores and then follows me back out. It’s been so mucky in the chicken yard that the muck holds on to my boots with a sucking noise when I walk: SUUCK, SUUCK, SUUCK. I’m surrprised that I haven’t stepped right out of my boots while they remained trapped in the muck! A couple of times I carried Theo across the muck, but most of the time he prefers to walk himself. He’s light on his feet and carefully chooses a less muddy path.

Today was the first day of Deer Season. Usually, EJ hunts at his friend’s property on the other side of the state, but he didn’t have today off so he hunted on our property instead. For the last week, EJ has been trying to figure out where the best place to hunker down would be. He was out before I got out of bed this morning. I wasn’t sure which spot he’d choose and at first I couldn’t see him, but I finally did spot him just inside the forest.

EJ had told me that deer learn our routines so they wouldn’t be all that spooked when I went outside to do my chores. So I got dressed, fed Hannah Joy, fed the cats, then went out to let the outside cats out of the garage. When I opened the garage door into the garden so Theo and I could go to the coop, I spotted several deer just inside the forest so I quietly closed the door and went back into the house. I texted EJ their location, and he texted back that he had been watching them. After a while, I saw them run off. EJ told me later that there had been six does and one had been snorting at him since before I got out of bed.

After the deer ran off, Theo and I went out and let the chickens out, then I put Hannah Joy out on the tie-out so she could do her morning “business.” She didn’t even see EJ, who wasn’t really all that far away. I took my camera out and snapped a few shots of EJ. He always tells me that, for him, part of the hunting experience is sitting outside enjoying the quiet and beauty of nature. I thought my photos captured that quite well.

Of course, venison is tasty too. Hopefully, EJ will get one or two. It will be especially welcomed this year with food prices rising.