The Ever Growing List

Halfway through the fourth and final month of the hunting season, I’m overwhelmed with a feeling of dread.

In a couple of weeks, I’ll no longer be able to answer “Yep” when Barb asks me if I’m hunting that day. Instead, I’ll have to go into detail about the projects around the house that require my attention: the ceiling that’s falling in; the floors that need refinishing; the light fixtures that need replaced.

It’s an endless list that keeps growing.

But since the first of September, my wonderful wife has given me a pass.

“Hunt all you want,” she says.

She didn’t used to be so understanding. By the middle of November, Barb had usually had enough. It was easier to sneak out of the house with gun and dogs than to explain why I needed to go hunting again.

She wondered aloud if it would ever end.

To ease matters I’d take on projects that I could complete in the afternoons after I got back from the hunt, nothing too ambitious, just enough to bolster my claims that I do more than hunt.

Barb, however, knew better. Nothing was really getting done until the season ended.

The last month of the season typically brings winter weather and the work that accompanies it – shoveling, plowing, digging out. Not so this winter. Mild, warm days follow more of the same. I can’t even pretend to work. This must be what it’s like to winter in Arizona.

I remember years past when I actually looked forward to the end of the season. Days spent bucking drifts in frigid temperatures and howling winds took their toll. I needed a rest.

Now if I’m tired I can simply plop down anywhere that’s cactus-free. The ground is bare and dry.

Of course, as soon as I tackle an outdoor project like rehanging the gate, it will turn gnarly. Barb will ask why I didn’t get anything done and I’ll tell her it was too cold. She’ll reply that I should have gotten on the project when the weather was still good.

“But, but it was hunting season.” I’ll stammer, and she’ll shoot me a look.

The end is near. I can feel it. Then there are only eight months to get things done before it starts all over again. I hope I have time. It’s a long list.

Parker Heinlein is at [email protected]