The force that drives me.

She is my rock, and my roof. If life brings rain she waters the garden. If life brings a storm she shelters me from the chaos outside. If life brings sunshine she shades me from the heat. An angel in disguise and a basket full of blessings, she is the fuel in my engine. Filling my tank and powering my determination. As a restless spirit I roamed aimlessly until she unlocked the peace within. Together we will cross this life, hand in hand, with the power of love, compassion, and understanding. My love, my life, my everything, my wife.

Thoughts on deer hunting.

When people think of deer hunting they immediately see a bunch of men, in orange, with guns, heading into the woods, and that's definitely part of the picture. Except, gun deer season is actually a very small part of deer hunting season. Deer hunting season begins in mid-September with bow hunting. Bow hunting season then runs basically until January. Inside of that time line there are two, four day, t-zone hunts (doe only). Also, the regular nine day gun deer season, a youth hunting weekend, and a muzzle loader season. Hunters are allowed to bow hunt during any open gun season as long as they are wearing the appropriate blaze orange clothing.

Bow hunting really takes deer hunting to the next level. It is so much harder to harvest a deer when you have to get inside of thirty yards, and you only have one shot. On top of that there are tons of other things that can go wrong, like your arrow falling off the rest, the deer catching your scent, or making the tiniest little noise. It all seems to be worth it when you see a deer coming your way and your adrenaline starts pumping. Which is great, but those days can be few and far between. That's why it's called hunting, and not slaughtering deer, most of the time you come home empty handed.

All sportsman enjoy heading into the woods to watch the wildlife and let life slow down a little, and sometimes sitting in a tree stand and watching the sunset can make tomorrow a great day.So it would seem there's a little more to deer hunting than a bunch of guys in orange.

My favorite time of the year!!

Autumn has always been my favorite season. As the leaves fall and the days get shorter, life heads indoors to get warm. Autumn seems to be a season of traditions. People in Wisconsin start watching football, winterizing anything and everything, carving pumpkins, hunting, and preparing for the holidays. Summer life transforms into swirling reds, yellows, and oranges. A beautiful and mesmerizing precursor to the cold winter months ahead. Farmers start harvesting crops, students start hitting the books, and Walmart starts putting up Christmas decorations in late October.

On top of that there are a bunch of foods that are seasonal to Autumn. When is the last time most of us saw a pumpkin pie, venison burger, Christmas cookies, or oven roasted turkey? You know grandma is going to start baking Christmas cookies around mid-October, and keep on going until February. Thanksgiving dinner always ends up lasting a week in left overs, and even though we eat a ton, it's still healthier than McDonald's.

Autumn is also the culmination of the previous spring and summer seasons, signalling deer to mate, driving waterfowl on their yearly migrations, and easing the change to the snow covered cleansing of Winter. Autumn seems to be such an active season leading into the holidays that it's no wonder why we take New Years Day off.

What's in a name?

The name of my blog is the Busted Knuckle, which refers to the name I gave my garage. My garage is where I spend most of my time at home. It's where I do homework, listen to music, hang out, fix stuff, and anything in between. I'll most likely be doing most of my blogging in "the knuckle" as it is often referred to, so I thought it would be fitting to call my blog "The Busted Knuckle". I built my garage in 2006 on my spare time after work and on weekends. After I started this project I soon realized that it was going to be much more difficult than I thought. I then made a call for help to my uncle and he came to the rescue. With two people it made things move much faster and safer. About six months after we where done a storm hit and left two trees on top of my brand new garage. I, along with some friends and neighbors, repaired the damage in about a week. From the beginning of demolition to the finished inside of the garage we went through about 50 cases of beer, and countless smashed fingers and thumbs, thus the name. For the most part no one was injured, but there where a few close calls.
I'd actually like to take a minute to give special thanks to some people. First, I'd like than Aaron Denstad for his time, knowledge, and company through this project. With out his help I don't quite know what I would have done. Second, I thank my lovely wife for putting up with me. She had better get a ticket to heaven for that one. The next shout out goes to my friends Matt, Jared, Cory, Nolan, Dave, Tim, and all the neighbors that helped repair the garage after the storm. Their help made "The Busted Knuckle" what it is today.