Now that we got beyond the neck twisting deer stand watch, I was continually scouring the countryside for wildlife. It seemed at least the beasts of the timber and field were smarter than the humans in staying put during the cold.
A stray deer was not to be seen ,but I did happen to find a solitary elk grazing through the snow cover at a commercial elk farm next to the interstate.
In the distance I found a shooting club that provided fuel for my imagination - seeing the shooting lanes busy with hunters practicing in spring ,summertime and fall weather for the upcoming seasons.
This lake had two visible huts from my vantage point on the run. The ice fishing huts were starting to take their places on the lakes. I was entertained by seeing some very nice - palatial palaces to spend hours participating in the long winter activity - ice fishing, passing us going the opposite direction.
In fact on a trailer following one of the huts there was a full sized sofa and ice grinding paraphernalia that I assumed was accompanying this one particular hut I felt might be something I wouldn't mind using. As we passed one exit there was a huge sign advertising an upcoming ice fishing tournament with a top prize of $50,000.00. I see that as a great way to to make some money doing the things you are passionate about.
Whoops! I guess there was one more deer stand on our route just west of Avon,MN...definitely in a spot where a lot of traffic is constantly moving. You wonder how things go for the hunters during the hunting seasons? I bet the deer are so used to extra activity, alarms may not often be apart of their behavior.
I would like to conclude today's post with a picture of the Red River Trails 3-D Archery Club woods by Avon,MN. My early fall travels have brought me past during some of their busy club activities, but the winter weather during this trip made the trails peacefully silent...
Iowa Caucus Day,January 3,2012. Boy, OH Boy! Am I ever ready for this Political event to get completed already.
The Straw Poll in August was another event for which I can say I am glad it is over. That was another time period where you dreaded to answer the phone because of all the politicians wanting you to know about themselves. We are constantly bombarded with television ads and phone calls for far to long in my book.
Yesterday, Sunday, New Year's Day, we were only called twice by the politicians . Both calls came between 4:30 - 4:35. One was a recorded message from Bill with Winning America Back...a constant robo-call and then a three question survey from Newt 2012. Sometimes the callers identify themselves upfront, but most of the time you have to wait until the end to discover exactly who is calling.I wanted to start keeping track how many times our phone rang from the same individuals.
Today, the calls started at -
11:30 - with call staff from Rick Perry's campaign headquarters. Checking to see who we would be caucusing for tomorrow night and if we knew where our caucus was being held.
11:33 - The Iowa Christian Leaders in Government group, a recorded message, wanted me to call Rick Santorum to let him know how disturbed by his voting record on abortion and a few other family issues I was.
12:12 - A local politician, Brad Zaun, named campaign chairman recently, called in support of Michelle Bachmann and wanted us to call into a Caucus meeting tonight in preparation for the real thing tomorrow night.
12:33 - Local radio talk show host, Steve Deace, called in support of Newt Gingrich - paid for by Newt 2012
12:48 - Representative Jason Shultz called to give me some more reasons why I shouldn't vote for Rick Santorum. Instead I should vote for Ron Paul - paid for by the Ron Paul 2012 Campaign Committee
Woohoo! At the time of this observation a little over an hour had since the last call. I believe however that things will heat up again around 4:30 when they think us working class people should be getting home from work. Then I perceive from past experience, calls could go as late as 8:30 or 9:00. At least they did at the end of last week.
Well, it's 4:52PM and the house is quiet...so far.
For my Iowa readers - here are some Des Moines Register campaign trail videos to help you make your choices for the caucuses tomorrow evening. Maybe my out of state readers can get prepared as well for what is coming to your neighborhoods if they haven't already...
