Saturday, February 17, 2007

A Year Ago Today....



Brookie and I met at Family Bowling in Pearl, Mississippi, specifically at the snack bar. There was a large group of friends from Pinelake that decided to get together for a night of bowling. A friend and I went to get a bottle of water, and Brookie just happened to get thirsty at this very same time even though he had just visited the snack bar for a drink 15 minutes earlier. He had noticed my excellent bowling skills earlier in the night, though he really just thought I was hot (he's helping me write this post).

We introduced ourselves and then we didn't speak to each other for the rest of the night at the lanes. Then we all decided to go to a friend's house and order pizza. Somehow or another we both ended up next to the pizza and chatted for a few minutes. Right before he left, my friend suggested that I invite Brookie the next night to another friend's house for a strange night night of karaoke. He asked for someone's number to call the next night. Of course, I volunteered mine. After I gave him my number, I made sure to ask, "Do you even know my name?" The sad thing is he shook his head no. A few days later he text me out on our first date and I responded- Sounds good. A year later....we've been married for three months.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Big Buck Down

The Lord works in mysterious ways in our lives and that same rule applies to the deer woods. Dad, Shelton, and I went to the farm on Sunday to put out our new Cuddeback Trail Camera to take after-season photos of the survivors to give us an indication of what lies ahead for next year. We were walking around one of our fields trying to find a favorable location to gather some Kodak moments. Dad decided to ride the 4-wheeler to another location. He returned moments later and expressed his excitement about what he had just seen. A sad daddy had rubbed a tree that I couldn't put my hands around completely to the core. I then walked to a small opening at the back of the field and saw something that resembled an antler lying on the other side of a ridge. Dad and Shelton both saw it shortly thereafter and to our surprise this is what we found. It was like discovering the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Based on the wear of his teeth, he was probably no more than three and a half years old. However, I guess that he will score close to 140 on the Boone and Crockett Scoring System. He was 15 inches wide and had 13 scorable points (11 typical with a split brow tine and a kicker off the left G-3). We obviously have created a habitat conducive to producing deer with genes such as these and it is incredible that a deer of that age sported such a fine set of headgear. His dad is out there somewhere and he may just be the new county record typical if we are fortunate enough to harvest him. The problem is that these old deer have been around the block a time or two and know all too well to only move at night. Maybe we can get a snapshot of him on the game cam since it has the capability of taking pics 24 hours a day.

There is no way of knowing for sure if this was the final piece of The Trifecta since there is no definitive evidence (though coincidental) to prove it. It is a lot like instant replay at the Super Bowl....there has to be indisputable evidence to overturn the ruling on the field. At any rate, it is a memory and trophy that the family will enjoy forever. What may or may not be will certainly look outstanding on the wall.