![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Sunrise tomorrow marks the opening of deer hunting season in Mississippi. There is a long-standing tradition among the hunters in our family that for supper Saturday night, we either eat fresh venison... or bologna. (Don't worry, GryphonRhi, that only applies to the *hunters* -- I'm sure that if we're unsuccessful, the rest of you will still get a fine meal ::G::)
If I weren't afraid of jinxing things, I'd mention the number of times we've had to invoke that tradition...
I talked to my father this afternoon, and apparently this nice little cold snap we've just been given has got the deer up and stirring. There've been several spotted in the last few days right around our area.
I love this time of year, and the traditional first-weekend hunt with my family. Honestly, while I like venison, and while there is a certain indescribable pleasure in a successful hunt, the part that is more important to me is just getting to be there. I've always loved the outdoors, and just being able to get away from my job and school and the various day-to-day things that go on in life, and spend time out in the woods enjoying Mother Nature...
I'm firmly convinced that it helps keep me sane.
My grandmother asked my father about it one time, trying to understand why we put in so much work on our stands during the year, then get up so early (well before dawn) and go out into the freezing darkness, and stay until mid-morning... then go back out again that afternoon and stay until dark. I doubt I'll ever forget his 7-word reply: There are no atheists in deer stands.
And I rather suspect he's right.
Words can't describe it, but I'll try.
You start off blanketed in total darkness and silence. The world around you is sleeping soundly.
Then the eastern sky starts to pale gradually, and you get to watch the sun rise, and see and hear the whole world wake up around you. Every creature, from songbirds and squirrels to hawks, foxes, panthers, coyotes -- and deer, of course ::S:: -- starts to wake and begin its daily routine. They announce their presence to the world with various cries, chitters, barks, or grunts, as if affirming their own existence and the fact that they have survived another night and stand ready to face the new day's challenges. Soon, the woods become a cacaphony of sound... but with a subtle harmony woven through the apparent chaos.
I don't see how anyone could possibly experience that and not believe in something bigger than themselves.
I have been in some beautiful churches, and some truly impressive cathedrals. There have been many with exquisite architecture, stained glass windows, and other cunningly crafted works. There have been some with a strong sense of spirituality and the divine, both intrinsic to the place and to the people who worship there.
But if you asked me where to find what I consider to be the truest House of God I have ever encountered, I would point you to my woods at dawn.
If I weren't afraid of jinxing things, I'd mention the number of times we've had to invoke that tradition...
I talked to my father this afternoon, and apparently this nice little cold snap we've just been given has got the deer up and stirring. There've been several spotted in the last few days right around our area.
I love this time of year, and the traditional first-weekend hunt with my family. Honestly, while I like venison, and while there is a certain indescribable pleasure in a successful hunt, the part that is more important to me is just getting to be there. I've always loved the outdoors, and just being able to get away from my job and school and the various day-to-day things that go on in life, and spend time out in the woods enjoying Mother Nature...
I'm firmly convinced that it helps keep me sane.
My grandmother asked my father about it one time, trying to understand why we put in so much work on our stands during the year, then get up so early (well before dawn) and go out into the freezing darkness, and stay until mid-morning... then go back out again that afternoon and stay until dark. I doubt I'll ever forget his 7-word reply: There are no atheists in deer stands.
And I rather suspect he's right.
Words can't describe it, but I'll try.
You start off blanketed in total darkness and silence. The world around you is sleeping soundly.
Then the eastern sky starts to pale gradually, and you get to watch the sun rise, and see and hear the whole world wake up around you. Every creature, from songbirds and squirrels to hawks, foxes, panthers, coyotes -- and deer, of course ::S:: -- starts to wake and begin its daily routine. They announce their presence to the world with various cries, chitters, barks, or grunts, as if affirming their own existence and the fact that they have survived another night and stand ready to face the new day's challenges. Soon, the woods become a cacaphony of sound... but with a subtle harmony woven through the apparent chaos.
I don't see how anyone could possibly experience that and not believe in something bigger than themselves.
I have been in some beautiful churches, and some truly impressive cathedrals. There have been many with exquisite architecture, stained glass windows, and other cunningly crafted works. There have been some with a strong sense of spirituality and the divine, both intrinsic to the place and to the people who worship there.
But if you asked me where to find what I consider to be the truest House of God I have ever encountered, I would point you to my woods at dawn.
no subject