September 7, 2022

I thought, by now,I'd seen it all, smelled it all, felt it all, done not all but most of all. Uh, uh. Today, a few minutes ago, was a first: I harvested our first crop of peaches from two trees I planted last Spring. They literally shone like golden orbs in the sunset sun - all ten of them - firm but juicy - peaches! - our own peaches! Drought and white-tail deer were two pitched battles, but we managed to prevail. I hauled five gallon pails of water up hill to those trees, fenced them and annointed the ground around with deer repellent. Ten peaches, folks. Tasty perfect as only a fresh picked peach can be. And, yet, I can top this: I picked them and ate them with my son and grandson, the three of us, juice slurping down our chins, a mellow day, a good natured breeze, with the leaves now drifting from the trees. 

Pears are next, though not such a revelation as we've been harvesting them for years. Then come apples. We have one pear tree and four bearing apple trees on the immediate property, and the garden still has tomatoes, kale, squash, and peppers. A sow and her cub have already raided the low hanging branches of the pear tree. One young buck regularly comes for the green apples closest to the house. When the leaves are gone and we're well into Winter, the remaining apples have shriveled and turned a shade of deep brass. When the sun is right, they hang there like temple bells. I don't hunt any more, yet, when the air gets chilly and the leaves keep falling,my eyes automatically "cut for sign" as they say out West which means looking for some indication that what you're looking for exists some where out there right now, and you're on it.

Years of hunting have made me quite the expert on "scat" (the most pungent of those indications), an otherwise arcane subject unless you spend some serious time in the woods.Turkey scat is white and shaped like a question mark. Partridge scat is white like a little caterpillar. Deer poop pellets. Bear scat is a mound (I won't tell you what's in it).Coyote scat is canid (Ditto on what's in it).  I think I've said enough. If you want to know more about the ejecta of any particular animal, drop me a line.