A little too early

Got up a little too early this morning and took friend up into the woods beind my place for him to hunt. I took my camera along. Beyond the second tall pine there is a lake. Beyond the lake is where I live. We were way up in the mountians before the sun came up. It was 25 degrees out.

We only saw a couple of people all day. A father and a son were out hunting. They were laughing and having a good time. It reminded me of when my dad took me hunting when I was a kid.

I don't remember much laughing back then, and didn't have a lot of choice in the matter when it came to going hunting. Dad would drag me out of bed and into the 4 wheel drive where I'd sleep until the last possible moment. (no coffee for kids) Then out into the cold morning I'd go when it would start to get light. I usually wouldn't see him again until dark.

I remember one time he took me hunting in the mountains behind the cabin. I was wearing a pair of sneakers with a hole in the toe of my right foot. When we got up in the woods there was a few inches of new snow on the ground. So I took the plastic bread wrapper my sandwich was in and put it over my sock so my foot wouldn't get wet. I went up on the hillside and built a fire where I stayed most of the day keeping my toes warm.

Dad asked me about it that night back in the cabin. I think he must have seen the smoke from my fire or he might have tracked me. He didn't push it, and I didn't offer up much.