weekending – buck deer

~Dan removing deer sinew from the lower legs for, y’know, projects~

~magpies sliding on the icy morning shed-roof, carrying off scraps of deer fat and tendon~

Everyone’s been chanting: buck deer buck deer, thank you for what you leave here, which is our family’s little gratitude song for this animal, this deer that’s—after three days of work—almost all parceled up neatly in the freezer, putting the final exclamation mark on the hunting season.

The other chant around here has been Col declaring,”I want to do some cutting!” I was thinking of sticking him in the package-labeling station, but watching everyone else slice and dice while his only tool was a sharpie was a little like signing up to go to Naples and then finding out you’re in Newark instead. Col actually did great, not necessarily speeding up the process, but showing us that some day he actually will.

*** ** *** ** *** ** ***

Our boombox finally died, the one that up until this morning was still playing mixed tapes titled: “Rachel’s driving mix” (made on the occasion of getting my drivers license a few hundred years ago!). So, we turned it over to the children along with screwdrivers, and it turns out that home butchering is ho-hum compared with dismantling electronics.

*** ** *** ** *** ** *** ** ***

I wish there was more to share about this weekend, but mostly it was a busy blur of knives and meat and celebration. And now I’m suspicious that the warm glow I’m feeling is a fever. Off to eat a fried egg and get into bed.

XO,

Rachel

Happy Halloween from the local leopard and wizard!

Also, still a few days to enter a great giveaway for one of my favorite books!

Linking with Amanda, for weekending.