An Iowa Thanksgiving

Being the frond end of our holiday season, Rachel and I made our way south, to the Freeseman Farm. We are road warriors at least, and were about to get in a hair before midnight the day before Thanksgiving. As with most trips home, we enjoyed each other’s company, football, and great food.

 

It was great to see Rachel in such a great mood and quite frankly, she kind of just left me to my own accord. She was so pre-occupied with being home that she was in another realm, and that was fine by me. 

 The day after Thanksgiving Rachel bailed on me to go shopping with Megan. This left me to hang out with the boys and to get some projects done. We had the boys for the morning, so they were but an extension of whatever we were working on. We helped/watched Austin change the oil on his car and wash it. When Rachel and Megan returned from their outing, Rachel and I headed to Megan and Ben's place for the evening. It was wonderful to see them again, and hang out. I got some much needed baby time, although Eli is become a chunk! We enjoyed great conversation, and a meal prepared by the ladies. This is yet another reason we miss home.

On Saturday, the ladies left for a craft show in Cedar Rapids, leaving the dudes at home. I spent the morning wrestling, watching movies, and just hanging out with Ryker and Daxton. We waited for later in the afternoon before we would try our luck at Colemans again for squirrels. Last year, Michael and I took Ryker out there to find a squirrel, but we really didn’t know what we were doing, and it was cold enough he only lasted a little over an hour out there. We then went back and did some real population management.

This year we had Michael, Ryker, Daxton, and Jerry along. We just took a leisurely walk through the timber this year with no real expectations of seeing any squirrels. We got to show the boys and Jerry deer, deer tracks, and some of the timber work I have done back there. At the end of the first section, we found a squirrel nest, and Michael blasted away. We ended up with a squirrel and were not skunked on the day! 

We continued all of the way back to Rachel’s Stand and found another 2 squirrels in that tree. At that point Daxton decided he was done for the day, and he and Jerry headed back. Ryker however, was not done and he wanted to keep going. He really had to convince Michael and I to forge on…

We took a few pictures of the TSI I have done back there and what a vast improvement. This last year’s progress is unbelievable. 

On the final stretch we did find one more squirrel to cap off our afternoon, and we could have had a few more had we not ran out of ammunition.

We pulled one last loop and headed back home with a handful of squirrels. I think we are in the process of creating another monster. Ryker was with us every step of the way and I think it is only going to get crazier as time goes on.

That is the reason I am doing the work I have been doing back there, so that someday, the boys can come out here and enjoy the sanctuary as much as I have. 

This was a wonderful trip and we were not exactly happy to call it a trip and head back home. We had a U-Haul full and we were headed back to Clark to move into our new apartment. We seem to only operate under one speed: 

GO

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