My Account of "Deer Season"

Having just survived my first "true hunting widow season," most of you knew that eventually one of my posts had to be about Deer Season. For others who don't, "why?" You ask? Simple. My soon-to-be-husband is a hunter. Not just any kind of hunter. He's a tried and true, born and bred, lifelong Northeast Wisconsin Hunter who comes from a long line of hunters who have hunted on the same piece of land for generations upon generations.


This is MY account and understanding of Deer Season: Hunting typically starts in the fall with a  variety of season "types," like bow, muzzle and rifle. Bow season starts somewhere in September; Rifle in November; and Muzzle in December - each lasting at least a week going through January. Okay, so if you're still following along, hunting season spans from September to January. And oh, mix in bear, turkey and partridge hunting seasons somewhere in between that time frame too. 

 He looks so proud!

Fortunately for me, I really only have to focus on deer season, and specifically rifle season. In Wisconsin, it starts the Saturday before Thanksgiving and lasts 8 days. In the UP (or Upper Peninsula Michigan), it starts on November 15 and lasts 15 days. Of course, Rob hunts in the UP. 


I figured 15 days without him around wouldn't be too bad. It's his time to "Ar, Ar, Ar!" Go sit in the freezing cold on a log somewhere in the middle of the woods for hours on end. Waiting for something to go by and sometimes not see anything at all for days! Uh, not for me! 

15 days of him not being around, so I can do my "hunting widow" thing, which means a lot of women-bonding, shopping, cleaning or redecorating for some. I, adapting quickly to my role, and started doing the same including the tradition of a girls' dinner with the other hunting widows from Rob's family.

I keep saying 15 because well, that's how long hunting season is "suppose" to last. When we lived in Phoenix, it was no problem... he'd do whatever to prepare, I dropped him off at the aiport *kiss, kiss, hug* and then about a week later, I'd pick him up and proceeded to listen to his "hunting stories" until he was tired of talking - or I was tired of listening. ^_^

Fast forward to 2010, we now live in Wisconsin, which is about 1 1/2 hours away from hunting camp. Remember that 15 days? Now "hunting season" lasts A LOT more than that. Not only does it include the actual "season," but there's the shopping for supplies, preparing for the trip, setting up camp, putting up deer stands and oh yeah, the mounds and mounds of laundry done in "special, non-scented" detergent. My god there was A LOT of laundry, both before and after!!

It was a good season.

This blog isn't a slam on hunting, it's simply my account of how long hunting season truly last. I would never complain and embrace it because It's cultural aspect of this region that's been seeded for generations, but COME ON... when they say 15 days..... I say, uh... yeah right! I guess the good thing that comes out of all this prepping, working and waiting.... venison summer sausage and brats. YUM!

Vocabulary Lesson

One of the things I quickly caught onto living in Wisconsin was the language. Not only is there a "Midwestern accent," but also a different use of words.


Today's lesson is the word "yet."
It's early yet. I have to eat yet. It's raining yet.


This was one of the, let's just say odd, word placements I noticed even when I lived in AZ. Rob was among a few Wisconsinites I heard using "yet," but couldn't pin-point exactly what the corresponding word was. Confused, it took me a bit to realize what the word was... it was "still." The use of "yet" is interchangable with "still," but not to be used together.


So translation to the statements above: It's still early. I still have to eat. It's still raining. All, of which, are completely true right now.


Happy Thanksgiving!

An hour gained, an hour lost

For those who don't know, Arizona doesn't participate in "falling back" or "springing forward" like most of the country. I really couldn't tell you which is better - having to remember to change the clock or having to remember that everyone else changes, but you. All I know is that during the winter, I'm one-hour away from my family in Arizona and two-hours during the summer. 

So this begs the question... why do we change our clocks at all? It seems to work fine for AZ and some other parts of the country not to make the change. It's my understanding that we do it to have an extra hour of sunlight in the morning, but what about at night? Aren't we "losing" an hour because it gets dark at 4p instead of 5p? 

Either way, I enjoyed the extra hour of sleep I got this morning. Not because I got to "sleep in" an extra hour, but because we were so dog-gone tired by 7p that we went to bed super early.

Not all windshield wiper fluid are created equal.

After living here for about a year or so, I've come to realize there are quite a few differences between living in warmer versus colder climates. And actually, it's not all climate differences, but also in language and culture. I guess it shouldn't have come as a shock to me, but I decided to create this blog to share lessons learned before they become "ordinary, everyday" things to me. 


As temperatures start to dip, I'm reminded of when I first arrived in Wisconsin. Rob and I made the move back to his home state of Wisconsin during the week of Christmas last year - what was I thinking?!? A girl who's only lived in sun-belt states thinking she can brave the cold, bitter winters of the frozen tundra, which her friends lovingly call Baja Canada. Before our move, Rob made sure our vehicles had sufficient windshield wiper fluid for the trek across the country. Not thinking anything of it, I picked up whatever blue liquid was there. 


The first two days of driving was rather uneventful. The weather behaved and we made our scheduled stops without much anguish (minus getting out of town later than expected, which made our first day of driving rather long!). As we were driving through Iowa into Wisconsin, it started to snow... well, not really... it was more of a snow/rain mix. Either way, it was cold and frozen droplets of water were making their way to my windshield. No problem, all I had to do was pull the windshield wiper lever and voila! I can see again. WRONG! I pulled, it made some noise then nothing. That's right! My windshield wiper fluid FROZE! 


Needless to say, we made a quick pit stop where I proceeded to pull out the bottle of windshield wiper fluid to see it say in big, black ink "protects down to 32 degrees." Really?!? I know it doesn't get that cold in Arizona, but doesn't water freeze at 32 degrees? Why would someone manufacture windshield wiper fluid that only protects to 32 degrees? Wouldn't it make sense to just use water then? 


So lesson number one: Not all windshield wiper fluid are created equal.


And oh, welcome to America's Dairyland... I was in for a bumpy ride!