Chores vs. pigskin and hunts

My wife doesn’t like fall. She calls it the saddest time of year.

I think it’s actually the end of summer that makes Barb blue.

Years ago, I felt the same way, but that probably had more to do with returning to school than with a change in seasons. Now I eagerly look forward to the end of summer.

The temperature reached 111 degrees here a little more than a month ago. That was the peak of a hot, dry August. But you know what they always say about Montana, if you don’t like the weather, wait six weeks and it will change.

It took nearly that long for things to cool off. Now there’s snow in the mountains, rain on the prairie, and nothing but cooler weather in the forecast. The tourists have fled and the seasonal businesses are closed.

It was a bit abrupt.

I keep telling Barb that warmer weather will return.

“It’s not even October yet,” I say when she complains about the cold. “It’ll warm up again.”

Last weekend, however, during a visit to our cabin on Fort Peck Lake, I finally pulled the pontoon boat off the water, and parked the fishing boat in the garage. For a few moments I shared in Barb’s melancholy, but quickly got over it. It is hunting season, after all.

When it began, I was only going out in the mornings to avoid the heat, mosquitos, and buzz worms. I was back at the house before noon, telling Barb that way I still had time for chores.

She wasn’t buying it and to be honest I didn’t get much done

Now, however, I have no choice. There are still some things I have to do before it freezes. The last of the tomatoes need to be picked, the cabin winterized, and the patio furniture packed away. The list is much longer than that, but it’s all I can remember. Barb, between bouts of melancholy, will be sure to remind me of the rest.

I’m more concerned with where I’m going to hunt today and where to be for the waterfowl opener this weekend. There’s a Malta Mustang football game Friday night and the ‘Cats are on TV Saturday.

There are a lot of ducks to get in a row, some figuratively, some literally. I’m just trying to enjoy it one day at a time. Fall, unlike summer, always passes too soon, no matter what Barb says.

Parker Heinlein is at [email protected]