Warm drinks and cozy sweaters aside, fall is one of my favorite times of the year.  It’s as if the whole world begins to prepare for something – not the same thing, but some thing.

Growing up in my family, the thing was hunting. Each year, just as Mother Earth began to display her majestic colors in the mountains, my dad would begin preparing to be lethal in the woods.  Archery shoots, scouting for the first signs of deer in the woods, spot lighting and gearing up – it was all leading up to the opening day of archery season.

I watched this process with great wonder throughout my youth, but quickly fell in love with the excitement it brought to the men in my world.  I would wait by the window in the morning to see if there was a trophy to be brought home – meat to fill the freezer and a story to tell that would get better with each rendition.