Tis' the Season...

To channel your inner Katniss kids!  Well, technically bow season was a couple of weeks ago.  Now we're in full-fledged, population controlling, deer harvesting, rifle season baby!  Translation: many of us haven't seen our husbands for several days.  They only come back to the house to occasionally eat, use the John (if the occasion calls for it), and sometimes shower (if we're lucky).

They'll generally come back to the house to consume baked goods as well (insert festive sugar cookies here).

I'd be lying if I told you I hadn't been bitten by the hunting bug.  Up until this year, I'd always kind of grudgingly woken up at the crack of dawn, dressed in layer upon layer of winter clothes (please, please, please envision the kid from 'A Christmas Story,' it makes me smile), and stumbled my way to "the spot" with hubby.  I think it's because I absolutely suck at sitting still for long any amount of time.  This year, that devilishly handsome man I married has been pretty busy with work, meaning wifey's on her own if she wants to go deer hunting.  I may or may not be scared of the dark, so I may or may not have some issues with the whole walking in the woods in near complete darkness thing, but I'm coping.  Slowly coping.  There's something legitimately empowering about walking through the entire process on your own.      

On a more serious note, there are some pretty cool things that happen as a result of deer season here in Missouri.  The state's Department of Conservation sponsors a 'Share the Harvest' program that allows hunters to donate their harvested meat to hungry families throughout the state.  Deer meat is an excellent source of very lean protein for those in need.  Departmental statistics show that hunters donated 317,882 pounds of meat to this program during the 2011 hunting season.  Thanks so much to all who participated!!  You rock!  And thanks so much to all the wives who put up with their husbands participation in this yearly pilgrimage/manhood/macho thing.  You all rock as well.

Good luck out there, hunters!