The Freeze

I have never posted a thread on this site, but today is a different day. I live in Virginia, and I am an avid game hunter. We have been hit with a cold that I myself of 44 years have not witnessed in this state, nor has my father for many years past my own. I went to hunt whitetails during this event with the temperature at -3 degrees, with a wind at 5-10 mph. I skied Utah for 8 years in my youth (lived it skiing 120 days a year), and I have never experienced cold such as this. Our air here in Virginia contains far more moisture than that of the west, making it by far more formidable, as I found out today. I saw no game. However, I was surrounded by woodpeckers, of three different species. It was as if I was in a Discovery documentary (a spectacle). I could not feel my toes within an hour on site, and after 4 hours, my feet were clubs. My hands could not untie a knot, and I knew it was time to go. However, this woodpecker thing was a true gift, it was special! Dozens of them were within an acre of me. They were everywhere! One pecked on a small branch, maybe the size of a broom handle 40' above my head, and I could feel it positively on my back as a lay against the tree. It was a wonderful experience, just to witness it all, and then as I started my half mile trek out, it hit me... Bastogne! Here I am, an American living life wonderfully! I can't feel my feet, my hands now are useless, but I am here on my own. As I was walking out, thinking of all that pecking (it sounded like machine guns firing with all these birds), I thought about the men that set the world free! I thought of these men with a much larger purpose, with little choice, that were the point of victory with much suffering, the freezing with little food against an enemy on all fronts. Without these men, you and I would be a lampshade or maybe a bar of soap! I thank our fighting men every day for what I have, and for what I hold dear! It's good to be an American! I am thankful for my father, his father, and the father before his, that gave me the life that I have today. Frozen forever!

 

I was so hammered when I typed this...lol...still riding the wave of victory! Holy sh*t it was at 5:30 in the morning. I missed work the next day. LOL