Speaking of which

And cold. Did I mention cold? It was in my queue, believe me. There’s a bit of sun to go with it, yet the wood stove has been rekindled for the past two days.

First a dead cat and now a woman. Not here on the property, luckily. Up river, unidentified at this point, and from the description, we have hair color and apparel but all else is open to speculation: age, height and cause. There is where the similarity begins and ends.

“I’s out walkin’ the dog and seen her washed up in our weeds.”

I forget exactly, but I believe one’s property line extends a bit beyond the shore, which some take more seriously than others. As for me, I claim no ownership of weeds, yet recognize a certain responsibility to restrict drift and therefore wait for the next warm, dry day to continue the assault mounted last week.

Meanwhile, DW has set her sites on a more social form of activism that will, in one way or another, find its way back to the home front. Up the road a good piece a new owner, but long-time resident, has plans to expand his pheasant fodder business from seller to competitor, setting building-raised birds free on the newly purchased prairie so those who wish to claim they have done so can bag a bird or two straight from the crate.

Now, I suppose if prospective clients were to pursue their prey with a show of force appropriate to the bird’s prowess and natural wiles, a high-powered air rifle would introduce sufficient ‘sport’ into the adventure, and neighbors would not be as concerned. However, as some readers will anticipate, a more realistic scenario must include gun power measured in gauges.

Now, it is my expectation that no self-respecting hunter of some experience and skill would be caught dead paying for the pleasure of picking off sitting fowl. In fact, that same hunter might be justified in fearing that engaging with other paying customers could put his life at some risk, at least at close range. Otherwise, the spray of 7.5 shot could at the very least prove to be a nuisance. It is this potential, along with other factors such as noise, has the neighbors up in (ahem) arms. And in that we’re not talking about wide open spaces, there are a lot of neighbors, both farmer and residential folk.

Anyway, here’s the local rag’s version of it. Salient points are missing (such as a proposed skeet range that is not seasonal and the impact on neighboring livestock), expecting, I suppose, emotions will sell more papers.

It is not that folks out here in this semi-rural area are unaccustomed to hearing gunfire on occasion, and that would include my neighbors when I have a varmint problem, like the growing number of feral cats.

Now there’s an idea. I might be able to make a little pocket change.