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When the telephone rang Tuesday afternoon, I recognized Damon's number on caller I. D. It surprised me when Zane was on the line. We made small talk for a few minutes before he got to the point of his call. With a bit of hesitation he said, "Grandpa, may Trevor and I come over and spend the night?" I said, "sure" before turning to ask my wife if the grandkids could come over. She was all for it but suggested he ask his parents. That would be a good idea I never considered. It was OK with them. I then explained I would have to work the next day. That was all right, they would play with Nanna.

Their Nanna is pretty cool. She has her own BB gun and likes to play angry birds. She has her own Beyblades (metal tops that are now quite the rage with kids), and she likes to go fishing. She always has something fun to do or get into.

That evening, after supper, when the temperature had dropped to 90 degrees, we jumped in the boat and went fishing. The fish were not biting well and it was getting dark when we headed back to the dock. We had caught a few fish, enough to say we had not been skunked, but the bats were coming out. Not too many things bother my wife. She can stare down a mountain lion or turn an angry bull, but bats are kind of creepy. I rather enjoy bats as they swoop down catching mosquitoes before the bugs can bite me. After years of experience, I have learned, when bats are diving out of the darkness toward a person's head, it is impossible to explain to that person how beneficial bats are to our natural environment. To avoid several lashes with a lightweight casting rod, we called it a night.

The next morning, Trevor and I we on the porch shortly after sunrise. Two bucks came out of the timber and browsed around below the spillway. We got the spotting scope and watched them for quite a while. One was a big ten point and the other was a huge twelve point buck. A deer with that sized rack looks big, but in full velvet zoomed up in a scope, they look enormous. By the time my wife and Zane came out, they were gone, but not forgotten.

It was predicted to get hot again, so when I left for work, the three musketeers started planning their day. They decided, since their blow guns were both at our place, Nanna should drive them around the pasture and they could shoot grasshoppers to use for bait. They also carried a couple BB guns in case they needed to take out some big game. How could a person argue with a plan like that? She did not have to walk all over the farm, the boys would be entertained, and depending on their skill with newly acquired blow guns, there might be bait for the next fishing trip.

The boys did remarkably well at shooting grasshoppers. The dogs thought it was great sport also. As the morning started to warm, Duke the Mastiff, wandered off to go for a swim. Louie, the boxer pup started getting hot, and jumped in to ride along next to my wife. Coty, the old and somewhat gimpy Lab was the only faithful hunter in the group. When anybody has anything that even resembles a gun, he is going to be out front hunting. He has a lot of faith in two little boys with blow guns.

There was a flash of black in the tall grass ahead and Coty was on it. As fast as he approached, he spun around, whimpered, and ran for the lake. The smell of skunk followed Coty past the hunters as my wife slammed into reverse. The boys reached for their BB guns and got off a couple quick parting shots. Coty washed his face in the water and my wife washed it again when he returned to the house. The three intrepid hunters decided it was too hot to go outside again. It would be better to get skunked playing angry birds, than to get skunked by a real skunk[[In-content Ad]]

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