SPENT THE MORNING deer hunting from the front porch of the Hotel. I had my blaze orange on and my 30-30 was loaded and with in reach. Rain was falling and the only thing moving was me rocking slowly in the rocking chair. I did not expect to see anything and as far as deer go I didn’t. I could have sat inside the Hotel with my feet up and close to the black pot belly stove. Coffee pot would be with in reach as it usually rests on the top of the stove. Thing is, if I did that then I would have no chance at seeing a deer let alone taking a shot at one. Sitting on the front porch with a roof over my head and some building at my back to block the wind was still a better chance of seeing a deer then being inside.

With the long deer season here at Lake Iwanttobethere one thing is for sure and that is that the weather will change. Have had highs in the sixties on opening weekend and now today it is raining and if Sunshine Ray is right it is going to change into snow, maybe. Just me and Elmer here at the Hotel today, everyone else is counting vacation days and will be back on the weekend or have wife’s they still want to be around. Just kidding dear in case you read this. Now I suppose you want to hear about the deer, you might as well stop here. We have seen does and fawns but no one has seen a buck let alone tried to take a shot at one. What we have seen is a lot of grouse at least Chuck has. He says and this is Chuck mind you that they fly down from the trees and follow him as he walks the path to his stand. He has to stop and tell them to leave but they being grouse don’t understand and continue to follow him to his stand where they then take up positions in the trees around his stand blocking his view of his shooting lanes, that is Chuck’s story and as we know everything spoken at the Hotel is taken as the absolute truth.

As I watch the rain fall here I let my eyes wander around the site. Not much has changed we like it this way. The sign over the door is changed though. Long time ago we borrowed a sign from down at the Lodge that was posted in the small meeting room, it simple says " No Politics, No Religion, No Mother-In-Laws" you don’t talk about those three things and you don’t have to many arguments. I see now someone has added in pencil "Cell Phone Reception" must be one of the young guys who hunt on the weekends. We always tell the young guys we have three bars out here, all you need to do is take a right at the road and go down a couple of miles and you will find them. Of course if it an emergency you can climb the big pine and you might be able to get a signal out but once again we like it that way.

With no deer stories to tell you I guess I don’t have a lot to write about. Full Hotel on the weekend and we expect to see the same guys here this next weekend. Saturday night is steak night and there was some talk about that. Steak is not cheap, especially when it is the main course of a meal. It was brought up that maybe Chuck could supply some grouse for dinner but now he is taking to defending his brood. I am going to run home this afternoon, take a shower and exchange empty pie pans for full ones. Elmer forget his bag of books and his bottle so I will pick them up for him. I’ll pet Duncan on the head a few times and look for my missing cigars. I had packed a full box in the bottom of my duffel, you know to share with the guys. I open the box to find just sixteen of them and a note from the wife saying one a day is all I need. With the rain falling here I have my coffee cup in one hand but my other hand is missing a cigar, here at Lake Iwanttobethere

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