LAST UPDATED: May 8th, 2015
A bachelor group of Sika bucks looks on as we park our vehicle. Only one antler of the orginal ten remains, but it is a beauty.
Someone once wrote, “Life is what happens while you are making other plans.” If we carefully analyze our lives, we will quickly see that no truer words were ever written.
Last week, Karen and I escaped the ho-hum routine of everyday life by checking into Palmquist’s The Farm for three days of relaxation, great food and even greater company. I have been visiting The Farm for ten years now hunting their awesome deer herd with a crossbow and a camera. Karen had heard countless stories and seen thousands of photos of all of the beautiful qualities that this unique get-away has to offer, but had never been there. My deepening love for the place and the people necessitated bringing my wife there so she could experience firsthand what I have had to deal with over the last decade.
The power of Mother Nature to reclaim what was once hers is fascinating. Trees growing in an ancient trailer…amazing.
The Farm not only offers hunting for trophy whitetail bucks, but it is also a bed and breakfast, offering cross-country skiing, hay rides, bird hunting as well as hosting weddings and family reunions with the capability to house the whole gang in a rural setting that is right out of the Good Old Days. It offers a glimpse of what life was in days gone by with down to earth hosts and a continuous flow of local residents that tell and retell tales of colorful characters that have passed through their lives over the four generations that The Farm has existed.
One of the activities I had planned was to get out into the woods to look for sheds and share some quality woods time with my Doxie, Moses Joseph or Mojo as I lovingly call him. We headed out on Friday morning after having coffee with the local boys, anxious to hit the woods with daydreams of deep piles of sheds in the back of the vehicle on the return trip. Mojo seemed to know that Daddy and he were off on an adventure as he lay on my lap shaking with excitement as I drove to our destination.
This is my best friend and buddy, Moses Joseph Hendricks or Mojo as we are fond of calling him. Mojo is a minature, piebald Dachshund.
When we reached the first gate, I slipped out of the vehicle and opened it up. When I returned to the Jeep and lifted the handle, I was greeted to a locked door! Mojo’s excitement had him bouncing on my arm rest and in the process he had all doors to my running vehicle locked tight. The motor was running with my cell phone in plain sight on the center console. How lovely can it get!
Sensing that something was terribly wrong, Mojo came to the driver’s side window and frantically began clawing at the glass in an effort to create a way in for me. I am constantly touched by the emotional ties that I have with this little creature and the fact that he realized we were seriously screwed here was just one more of those special moments.
Rounding a corner, we caught a couple of whitetail bucks, sans their antlers, standing under one of my favorite photo blinds.
I considered my options and then began looking for the right sized rock which I quickly located. There was a tall narrow safety glass window right behind the regular window on the rear doors…that became my target. It was sturdy glass and the process of trying to smash it took multiple attempts, which only upset Mojo even further. When at last it exploded into a million shards, I reached inside and opened the door. When I climbed into the front of the vehicle, Mojo jumped into my lap covering my face with exuberant kisses, relieved to be safely back in Daddy’s arms, once again.
We headed through the gates and spent the rest of the morning tromping through the very wet and beautiful Northern Wisconsin woods collecting a total of three pieces of whitetail ivory before heading back to The Farm tired, wet and happy in spite of the window. One of our local friends had invited Karen and me over for a lunch of fried pan fish and an opportunity to meet his wife. Before we pulled out of his yard we had the hole patched with pink Styrofoam and Duck tape and the broken glass pretty much removed via his shop vac. The patch job didn’t look like much, but it was solidly done and withstood the five-hour trip home without so much as a single leak. Thank you, Brother Hank.
After the window incident, we were rewarded to an absolutely beautiful morning in the woods. Wispy fog hung over the crystal clear pools of ice water, created by freshly melted snow.
The original plan was to take my best friend, Mojo out for a scenic walk in the woods and to maybe find some sheds. I did not plan on getting locked out of the Jeep or having to smash a window out, but that’s life and life is what happens while you are making other plans.
Mojo and I even found a few antlers to make the day even better than it already was.
The beauty that is found in the forest constantly amazes me. Everywhere I look there are sights that give me reason to pause and admire.
These stones have not been rolling for they have gathered moss!
A minor set back, a beautiful forest, wild creatures, the devotion of a wonderful little dog and the Spring song of a Robin…That’s Life!
