This coming weekend is the annual deer hunt.  For as long as I can remember, it has always started at daylight on the third weekend in October.  There was a time when I spent time and money planning for this big event, but that was years ago.  The feeling is upon me that sometime I would like to go again…not to shoot anything, but to spend that time with those I love.

            I’m reminded of the Players.  I spent some wonderful times hunting with them.  They hunted the same place for many years and probably still do.  Garnet, the dad, even in his old age would come on the hunt, if only to stay in camp and cook.  It was an annual event and a great opportunity to spend time with his sons, and eventually grandsons too.  Garnet died the day before the deer hunt a few years ago.  His sons and grandsons went on the hunt as usual, spending the evening before opening day of the hunt, reminiscing about all the years and the good times they were able to spend together and with him.

            As a youngster, when I finally reached the legal age to hunt, and having obtained the proper permits, I purchased a hunting rifle and my father took me into the mountains to hunt.  He hadn’t hunted in years, and probably was not a very good hunter, but wanting to spend time with me and allow me the opportunity, we drove some back roads to likely looking area.

            I would state here that my father was no youngster.  He was forty years old when I was born.   He had worked hard all his life, and had a few health issues…although not severe.  I didn’t think much about him hiking around the hills at his age because he was very active at his construction job and probably in good shape.

            Dad sent me ahead to an area he thought would likely produce a buck and he said he would catch up with me in a while.  He wanted to take it slow and enjoy a slow hike.  Anxious as I was to shoot my first deer, I hurried ahead and spent a good deal of time overlooking a little clearing and the draws leading to it.  I don’t even recall how long I looked and watched and waited, but I never saw a single solitary deer.  I waited quite some time, but dad never did catch up.  I thought that perhaps he took a different turn and didn’t know where I was.  Finally I decided to go find him so we could spend the time together.

            As I retraced my route from the clearing to the truck, I passed through a stand of aspen with a few golden leaves on the trees, but mostly a thick blanket of them on the ground.  It was hard not to make a lot of noise walking in those dry leaves.  It was there that I found dad.  I thought he had died of a heart attack.  He was laying face down with his face in the leaves like he had fallen.  I hurried to his side and called “dad”.  He rolled over and sat up, blinking the sleep from his eyes. 

            To this day, I don’t know if he fell, passed out or if he had just lain down and went to sleep, but to my relief, he woke up.

            I wish I knew where that place was.  I know the general area, but of course that was somewhere around forty five years ago and I just can’t pinpoint it in my mind.  Now, the reason I would again like to find it isn’t for sentimental reasons.  When hiking down the trail that many years ago, there were white quartz rocks beside the trail, and they had little veins of gold in them.  At the time, I just passed it off as “fools” gold, but now when I think back on it, I could have passed up the real thing.  I’ll never know for sure, and it would be a “fools” errand for me to spend my time looking for something I know so little about.

            My dad had an uncle whom he loved, and he even worked for him for a period of time.  This uncle loved to hunt and fish.  Dad once asked him “Uncle Will, what are you going to do if you die and on the other side there isn’t any hunting and fishing?”  His uncle replied “you know, when I was a kid, there wasn’t anything better than playing a game of marbles with my friends…but I grew up.”

             I hope I am wise enough to spend my remaining years looking for and developing treasures that I can take with me when I depart this life…knowledge, love, patience, brotherly kindness, and most of all, gratitude for the blessings given my by a loving Heavenly Father.

            In Matthew 6 it says:  

 19 ¶ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: