April Fool's Day: Spring must have arrived

Happy Groundhog Day!

Well, it's obvious that Gaston, the alligator, ain't gonna see his shadow today. There's a cold front coming and the rain is pouring. It was a tough year and I'm glad it's over. The last day of bowhunting was Jan 31 and I didn't tag my deer... again. Oh, well, it's time to dream about fishing.

Here comes Hurricane Gustav

Well, here it comes; I guess things were getting too near to normal. Much of the Gulf- coast storm damage from Katrina and Rita has been handled. My recent disasters are mostly under control. Hunting season is coming soon, and I've been trying to start preparations for that shining time of my year... time, now, for archery practice, scouting, trail maintenance. The water courses and fish populations have nearly recovered from those other hurricanes, so I've been wanting to get away to the bayous, beaches, and rivers for some late summer fishing, too. It looks like it ain't gonna happen. Gustav is coming! And it looks like I will get hammered with that nasty northeast quadrant of the storm. But I've prepared for the storm as best I can, and we will fare OK. An outdoor/ camping lifestyle helps, when the city- living infrastructure collapses. It merely becomes inconvenient... gotta do without internet.

Welcome springtime; glad to see you Daylight Savings Time

I like this Daylight Savings Time, even though dawn comes quite early. On Sunday, I got away from work early enough to almost finish cleaning my fish before dark. With a little planning, there's enough after- work daylight to do something, a project, a cookout, or a trip to someplace close. What, me learn to plan things? Only drawback is that an extra hour of daylight on those sultry summer days seems to burn up my tomato plants.

Red Stick Flyfishers conclave, 2008

Well, this year's gathering is coming soon. Here's a link to the club's announcement. I must work that weekend, so can't attend this year. This work stuff has certainly been interferring with a lot of stuff, recently.

Deer hunters are at risk

Well, we all know that deer hunting is not for the faint of heart. A recent study has shown that it can be downright hazardous to your health; here's a link. I hope they never expand these studies to include bowhunters. When you're holding your breath, the adrenaline is pumping, and old mossyhorns is so close that you fear he will hear that pounding in your chest, it would blow their medical monitors off- scale. The next thing you know, the Feds would be in here protecting us from such dangers.

A Burton in the woodpile?

I have been struggling to interpret some Burton/ Reily DNA matches; trying to understand what those results mean. Far removed in time and space, the matches have no real consequence or implications, but certainly stir my curiosity. To share my findings, I have begun posting the research on my genalogy page. There is a link to that page in the sidebar, or Here's a direct link to the first entry.