Black Friday

This whole black Friday thing makes people stupid. I will never understand what makes a person take time away from their families to go wait in line at a store for something that you can probably find on line or will be on sale again in a week or two.

We were on our way home from my sister’s house on Thanksgiving night and I was amazed at how many cars were at Walmart. Every one we passed was full. That had me talking and going on about what I was calling dumb ass people. The kicker came when I got off the freeway in Howell by the outlets where bunches more of them people were. As I came around the curve onto 59 a car pulled out in front of me just to get in line before me. Not only did they pull out in front of me, they stopped in the middle of the road. Needless to say I was not going to the outlets and I was slightly P. Oed. about it and as I sat with my front end next to the side of his car waiting, my horn never stopped and of course my finger slipped up.

So now with me going off about these dump ass people again and getting my wife laughing at me, we drove by Target. At this time it was about 10:30p and Target did not open until midnight and people were lined up waiting to get in. This is when I really was calling these people dumb asses. I thought Thanksgiving was about spending time with our families and being thankful for what we have, not going out and waiting in lines to get in the store.

Now I am sorry if you are one of these people and you take offence to this but remember this is my opinion, and yes I would call you a dumb ass to your face. That does not mean I don’t like you it just means for this one day you are a dumb ass. I get the wanting to save a few dollars but I don’t get taking time from the family to do it. Seriously if you look at the stuff you are buying you will be able to find it latter at the same price and it is probable crap in the first place. I do get a kick out of the ones that feel it necessary to get into a fight over some stupid product that will be on sale again later.

Anyway, even after working retail for 17 years I don’t understand the mad rush right after Thanksgiving. I can live with the Friday sales but going out on Thanksgiving or in some cases before, to wait in a line to buy something will never make any since at all to me. Enjoy the holiday and your families, there is plenty of time to shop the rest of the year.

Deer Camp

On Saturday we will be heading up to deer camp, the old school deer camp, the camp that actually involves a tent and camping, the deer camp that has a family history of four generations. And yes the deer camp where we actually go out and hunt.

Deer camp may not be for everyone and it has a different meaning for some, but for my family it is a family tradition that started way back with my Great Grandpa. The thing about our deer camp is that it is in the North West side of the Upper Peninsula and it is in a tent. I have heard the stories of the guys waiting in line for the fairy to get to the U.P. before the bridge was there. I have also heard a ton of stories about a ton of snow and a ton of deer and a ton of B.S., but for the last 20 plus years I have been making and telling my own stories.

When I started going way back when, I went with my Grandpa, Dad, cousins and a couple of Great Uncles. I did not have the pleasure of going up with my Great Grandpa but by the stories told he was a fun man to go with. The last time my grandpa went was about 6 or 7 years ago, when he was 84 or 85 years old. That particular year it was me, my dad Dave, Grandpa Swann, Uncle Harold, Mark and TJ. Mark and Harold went for another year or two after that but now it’s just my dad, TJ, and me. I could go on for hours about all the stories from just the years I have been going but that is for another day.

My Gramps passed away earlier this year at the young age of 91, but he left us with some letters he had been writing for years. Most were about my Grandma but one was about hunting. My cousin Shawn and I read some of these letters at his funeral and I got to read the one about hunting. Gramps says “people don’t know what hunting is about…going to the big ranches having someone put in the spot and you get to pick the biggest buck to shoot is not hunting. Even down in southern Michigan it’s not hunting…. Go up into the big woods of the U.P. and stay in a tent, sleep on the ground in the hay and actually have to hunt for the deer is hunting.” And I will agree with him 100%. But for me it is not just about the deer.

For me it is the drive up, the setting up the tent and cutting the wood and then spending hours out in the middle of nowhere. There are other hunters up there but we don’t see them very often in the woods. You could go for miles and see some amazing things, like a beaver dam that stretches some 200 yard, or a big old porcupine, or a wood pecker that is about a foot tall, etc. We do kill some deer some times, even though I am in a long drought right now but at least I have killed deer up there, which is more then I can so for my Dad. He has been going for 40 plus years and never killed a deer, not for lack of effort but for the lack of luck. Maybe this will be his year.

Whether we bring any deer back or not this trip is something that I hope I can make for many more years. It is my opinion that until you go up and set up camp and walk the big woods on your own, you have not been deer hunting in a true deer camp. Anyway you go I will say good luck to all the hunters this year and be safe.