You know, I never really thought of myself as an environmentalist.....or a "tree hugger" but I have always been in love with nature. I guess I straddle the fence on that. My dad has always liked to hunt and always made the most of everything he brought in but I could never do it. I mean, I went hunting with him on occasion and I saw the animals he brought home and prayed over them at supper.... "Dear Lord, please be with the family of this moose my daddy killed.......and thank you for this wonderful meal my mom cooked for us (cough!) Amen." LOL But when he actually gave me the rifle and helped me aim it at a grouse, I looked through that scope at it's dark black eye and watched it blink... and I couldn't shoot it. I tried to miss intentionally and ended up getting the butt of the gun slammed against my cheekbone. Ouch. I did manage to miss the bird but grouse are very dumb birds and it just sat there and blinked again as my dad aimed for himself. What can I say, I tried. But after that I decided that I wasn't a "hunter" like my dad. I never thought he was evil or anything because he was a firm believer in being a "true sportsmen". He made sure the animals didn't "suffer"....although, I'm sure it smarted to be shot even if his aim was true and death was quick.
Now, years later, married and with two kids of my own, I never really thought about hunting or fishing. We may live in Alaska but we live in town and if a moose happens to stumble through our yard we grab the camera not a gun. Now, if someone offers me a little moose meat wrapped in freezer paper I'd gladly accept. It's amazing how good it can taste when it's not burnt......oops! forget I said that.......but I am not going to be the one that looks into those big beautiful brown eyes and pulls the trigger. That's just me though, and I'd never tell my kids that hunting was bad. I never even thought about what they thought about hunting.....well, until the day my children mourned the passing of a bee.
The bee....a nasty black wasp that was at least 4" long and seething mad about being trapped in my curtain......had the kids terrified. If it were a spider I would get a cup and take the little fellow outside like a toddler being "turned around" to the proper direction. This isn't Texas; The spiders here are smaller than a fly. But this black vibrating and hissing menace wasn't going in any cup I was holding. I got "the spray" and hosed his scary-hairy butt down. The faces of the kids then changed from horror (at seeing the bee try to sting my curtain to death) to shock when it rolled onto its back and started "suffering" and then to remorse at being an accomplice in a murder. Riley said I should get it down so they could take it outside to get some air. "Then", Riley said, "He might make it". After I got a piece of paper and got the bee down the boys took it outside. I asked where they put it and Jared said, "at the park near a nice tree..."and a dandelion" Riley chimed in. Awww, how sweet. Too bad they don't have "Bee-Bee Guns" because I'd shoot one of those suckers in an instant!
Another one got in the house this afternoon and 4 brown eyes looked at me like "Don't kill it!!!" It made me think of the people who wanted the president to pardon Turkeys at Thanksgiving LOL So, the cool (and heroic) mom that I am, I got a cup and a piece of paper and set the little devil free. Free to sting again.... can't you just hear the Law & Order music now?
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