Well winter is on the way, hope we get more snow this year than we did last. Lesley is sitting in her deer hunting blind as I write this, today being the start of deer hunting season. She and I sighted in her rifle yesterday. I hadn't shot a rife for about 40 years, but did make one shot. I hit about 1" away from the red bullseye at 75 yards. It felt good, I may try deer hunting next year. I told Lesley I could do blind or tree stand hunting, but walking thru the woods flushing them out would not be a good idea for me to do. I just can't hold the rifle steady enough without something to rest it on, and tripping with a loaded gun is not a good idea either. We already have half of three road kill deer in the freezer, so we have plenty of venison for the winter. We got a call from the sheriff last week for another road kill, and on the way to get it we saw another one down. A quick call to the sheriff and we got the OK to pick both of them up. Needless to say, our basement has been a busy place with all the meat processing going on. Lesley and her friend do all of that, I don't like to be that close to sharp knives!

I had a fall about three weeks ago in our garage. I tripped and fell on my left knee and my forehead hit the wall fairly hard. I was a bit nervous about the head since I am on blood thinners, so off to the doc we went a few days later. A CT scan found all OK, and a xray of the neck found all OK there as well. The knee has finally come right, swelling and pain pretty much gone. I am resuming normal activities at last. I plan to restart my exercise routine next week. I hate not being able to do it for the past three weeks.

As I posted in Sandycaregivers blog, it is all about risk management. The more activities you resume, the more risk of things happening. I usually can catch myself or roll, but sometimes stuff happens. You just do the best you can to be prepared. I always carry blood clotting sponges with me when I am alone in the woods with my canoe, have bandaids handy, etc, etc. Life has risks, you just manage them as best you can. Another example of risk management: a few months ago I took two young boys and their grandpa fishing. While there, we saw some cliffs towering over the lake about 400' above the water. In years past I have climbed a trail I know around the side and back of the cliffs. It is steep in a few places, but the trail is nowhere near the sheer drop of the cliff face and is perfectly safe. Naturally the boys wanted to go up the trail. The grandpa asked if I would be OK waiting on the shore with the boat, and I told him I'd come and bring up the rear slowly. Near the top, there was a stretch near the edge of the cliff. The young boys and grandpa walked that trail. I chose another way, farther from the edge because of footing and balance issues. Years ago I would have taken the shorter trail near the edge. No more. That is what I mean about risk management and doing what you can to mitigate risk. Life is full of risks but to eliminate all of it would make for a boring life. So Sandy keep on moving forward and good luck!

Anyway, my coffee cup is empty, you'all know what that means.