Saturday was the annual Fish Fry at the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department. So enjoyable, as always. Miss Smith and I got our usual to-go boxes of a fillet of fried fish, fillet of grilled fish, and a piece of chicken! No decision this way, just the chance to enjoy it all! I did feel rather complicated when the cashier asked, "For our records, are you getting fish or chicken?" "Well....both!" "OK, for here or to go?" "Well...I'm getting a to-go box so I can take home any leftovers, but I'll be eating here!" Keeping it simple has never been my talent. Maybe that's why she gave us all non-winning tickets! Oh well, I'd rather win nothing than some junk or clutter that I don't need! (Wow! Did I really just type that?! Maybe I am slowly becoming FlyWashed...but the bags of loot I scored at Aunt Donna's family garage sale wouldn't prove that...I could do a whole post on my treasures!) Anyway, after a Walmart grocery run for Miss Smith, I dropped Danielle off at Aunt Rhonda's and donned my camo and grabbed my bow before meeting Daniel to get my hunting instructions. I had forgotten to bring the bag that contained the artificial scent killer, so we crushed some cedar (leaves?? they don't seem leafy...maybe I should say sprigs??) and rubbed them in my hair and on the back of my neck. Major ITCH. Then I climbed the ladder and sat happily nature-watching while basking in the bliss of having time to just THINK. I can honestly say I have never been bored a minute in my life. It feels sorta Dr. Suessy, but oh, the thinks you can think! I love to have the chance to just think and think....I thought about past memories good and not so good, projects I want to do.... projects I will skip this year (sadly I shelf the adorable pumpkin family I had visually created) I mentally clean-swept our home of current clutter and relished its "new" look, I thought about God and His plans for me, I thought about how fast our little baby is growing up... that the days with her being this needy and clingy seem long, but that the years are short, and I need to consciously enjoy her tugging at my skirt and live in this moment...that this will be the only Fall that she is 7 months old! And that it doesn't matter how much my friends with babies can accomplish, I shouldn't compare and complain, because I am doing the very best I can.
Then I thought I heard a deer approach...crunch...step...crunch...step....BE STILL, my beating heart! THUD, THUD, POUND, POUND....slowly I turned my head to view with disdain, not a deer, but a fat o'possum! So I watched him creep around nibbling on my deer's corn while the squirrels fought like two-year olds, the birds chirped, the leaves fell, and the stars came out. Then I wrapped it up by thinking that even though I am still a bow-huntress with no bragging rights, it had been a most successful THINK. From now on instead of going hunting, I'm gonna go thinking! I know I'll always be successful at that! We even heard in church Sunday morning that taking time to think is a key to success, spiritually and financially! So really, going thinking should become a priority! If I ever do happen to snag a deer, it'll be a bonus!
