A "Flashback".

The "reset button" idea came to me thanks to two people in my life. Ok, three if you count me.

It started when I tried to explain to one of my older sisters the feeling of calm that would come over me when I'd get away from the hectic day to day life in a city and go spend a few hours in the woods. It didn't matter if I was out there hunting, fishing, walking, or just sitting on a log watching the birds and squirrels. She's the one that offered up a title for that feeling. She called it "finding center". I didn't have to give that much thought to know that she'd said it exactly right. Out in the woods I would forget all about the things in my life that were causing stress. I would slow down and concentrate on the little things in nature. Somehow the stress that I had been feeling would melt away, and it wouldn't come back when I'd returned to town.

The other person is a very good friend of mine. Back in 1990 or 91' he bought a fairly small piece of land in the Southeast corner of Minnesota. The land, which he ended up naming "Chiapas" is where I'd go when I needed to "find center". My friend lives in the Twin Cities, and after I moved to Southeastern Minnesota he was kind enough to give me free run of the land. I could do almost anything I wanted and could go there anytime I wanted. So I spent many, many days and nights there.

The reset button idea actually came one particularly stressful day. After a not so good day at work dealing with customers that weren't too happy. I'd gone home and played a game on my Playstation. For some reason, running thru that virtual world shooting people didn't calm my nerves. So I went to Chiapas. That's where and when I thought, "if only life had a reset button like the Playstation has". A button that would erase all the bad stuff and start you over fresh. Later that day was when it hit me. Chipas is where I could find center, which has the same effect as hitting the reset button.

So, to my sister and my friend, I say a very heartfelt Thank You. Sure, without their help I probably would have figured the same things out on my own. It just would have taken a lot longer. And for some unknown reason, identifying the feeling makes it better.

True entertainment...

My reason for going to "the woods" today was to hopefully be in the right spot when that real "monster buck" that I'd seen a couple days ago heads for a field to feed. Of course, that didn't happen. He didn't get that old or big by being predictable.

As happens most days when I'm out there bow hunting, I watched the grass grow. The leaves fell, trees rocked in the wind, and the water in the river flowed. And in the middle of all that, God presented me with some of the best entertainment I've ever seen. Better than any movie, TV show, or concert that I've ever been to.

I was sitting in a chair on the ground, hidden somewhat by fallen trees. It was cloudy and windy, with drizzle coming down. I was expecting any deer that might come by to come from the north. So that's the direction I was concentrating on.

At about 5pm, I glanced back over my shoulder to the south. Not because I'd heard something, but because I figured that I should do that every once in a while, just in case. Sure as heck, I saw the back end of a deer disappear behind some trees.

The deer turned out to be a doe. She wasn't huge, but she was big enough to be a "shooter". She hadn't seen me yet so I slowly turned around and got my bow ready to shoot. She then came out from behind the trees and began walking straight toward me. She was ten yards away when she finally noticed that I was there. She froze. Then she started bobbing her head up and down trying to figure out what I was.

Over the next ten to fifteen minutes she kept trying to figure me out. She'd walk to the east a few feet, pause, turn back to the west, then to the east again. Her nose was working overtime checking the wind for scent. She'd bobb her head a few more times, and then turn around again. Until finally moving off out of sight, heading south.

I ended up drawing back my bow two different times during our encounter. But in the end I never released the arrow. Just watching her was enough for today. And with luck, I'll be able to watch her again on another day.

The "reset button" had been pushed.