Week 12 Minor setback

Sorry for the delay in posting, with the holiday on Monday I was busy and didn't have a chance to sit down and post. We have encountered a minor setback recently. The freezer that had most of the fish I had frozen in it was unplugged for three days. As a result I lost about 20 lbs of fish that I had caught and the last remaining beef I had from the supply run. This has left us without any meat until I can get out and do more fishing. Which of course as it would happen has been impossible with the weather that we have been having. Between snow storms, thunderstorms and a constant rain over the last week I have not been able to get out and do anything. Monday offered the first respite from the rain and while I was able to get out fishing, I was unsuccessful at landing anything worth keeping.
Fishing on Monday did bring about it's own revelations. While out fishing from shore, something I decided until I can get pontoons on my canoe to avoid anymore unintentional swimming trips, I took notice of all the wildlife I got to see. Things that a person who never ventures out into the forest would ever see. Longnose Gar feeding on insects on the top of the water, water snakes swimming around in the river, a box turtle sunning itself on a log in the middle of the river, and one very annoying beaver swimming around my fishing lines and generally being a nuicence. These are all things that I would have never seen had I been at home playing video games or watching TV. And while you can see these things on the discovery channel or animal planet there is something magical about being out in it and amoung it. Reconnecting to things in a way that I think a lot of people are losing touch with. Not that long ago this is how people did everything, my grandfather for example talks about when he was a child they had an out house and no indoor plumbing. How as a kid if he wanted to go out and play it meant going OUT and playing in the woods around his house. Hunting wasn't about sport or getting the prize buck it was about putting food on the table. His respect for nature and his understanding of how nature stays in balance would make any modern day hippy feel stupid. Organic in his day meant something they grew out of the family garden and free range or grass fed meat was something they shot. The work involved gave them an appreciation of where food comes from. While grocery stores and canned and processed food were starting to become a staple it was not something that was readily available the way it is now. But I digress, while I understand not everyone wants or has the ability to hunt, and in fact if everyone did it, it may put a larger strain on the enviorment than it could handle, I feel people should just take a walk out in the woods and reconnect to nature. Even if your not hunting imagine you are and let your wild side go as you stalk through the forest with a camara if you prefer looking for that next prey animal. Feel that sense of excitement as you stalk up on a deer or game bird and take that fantastic shot with your camara rather than a gun.
Weekly grocery shopping as always came in at 45 dollars, putting me almost 900 dollars in savings over the same time period in the store. Thanks as always for reading and for putting up with my small preachy moment above. Don't worry it won't become a habit. =)