We've never felt it necessary to place those brightly colored "Posted" signs around our property. You know the ones - usually yellow, red or orange, they warn against trespassing or, horror of horrors, "poaching" (usually meaning deer). For one thing, I've never quite understood the idea that when deer wander into the borders of what the state considers "mine" they suddenly belong to me, but when they wander out again, they don't. Second, I've got nothing specific against hunting per se (just stupid and greedy hunting - the kind that happens too close to a house or without verification of the actual presence of the animal). Third, I know personally of families nearby whose winters would be long and dark indeed without the benefit of their summer gardens and fall kills. So I've always felt that if a responsible hunter saw a legal shot that happened to bring him or her onto my property that was fine.


    You know where this is going, right? We put up the Posted signs yesterday in response to two separate and coincidental events. First, someone did take a shot, or more accurately prepared to take a shot, on our property that was neither responsible nor legal. Way too close to the house when I saw him, I yelled to get his attention and in the process jolted the deer out of its stupor and caused it to run. The guy was furious but, hey, he was standing a mere 400 feet or so from my front door with a gun. I'd say that I have more of a ground, so to speak, for anger.


    Second, we learned that we may be held accountable for hunting accidents that occur on our land, even if we weren't involved or even knowledgeable about them. Like the proverbial robber who trips down your stairs or vandal who cuts himself while chopping down your tree, a hunter who is hurt on your property may quickly become even more of a problem.


    I'm saddened by this development. Although not a hunter myself, I do enjoy eating venison and rabbit and appreciate the gifts of game given to me by hunter friends. I am also accutely aware of the impact that burgeoning deer populations are having on our environment - two of the does in the little herd that visits us each had two sets of twins this year, making four little fawns who have stripped away the bark and are killing the trees that serve as shelter for birds which help keep the insect population in check which...you get the idea (the Wall Street Journal had an excellent article earlier this week on this very subject). Two of the fawns look too skinny to make it through the winter and I wonder about them as the days get shorter and colder, and foliage is much harder to come by. No, overly restricting hunting would be just as damaging as unregulated hunting.


    And yet. My little corner of the world has now become part of the problem.

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    I move through my daily life ever alert to subjects suitable for blogging and usually identify scores of things about which I think I might be able to craft at least somewhat interesting entries. Alas, it is this same daily life that has been preventing me from actually committing the thoughts to posts.


    One of my long-standing clients is continuing an established tradition that allows all kinds of stuff to hit the fan in the last weeks of the year. Like many organizations, budgets are determined on a use-it-or-lose-it calendar year basis, as are bonuses - progress toward which is measured by how much was completed against the list of goals created earlier in the year. The result is that December arrives, everyone looks up and thinks, "Holy cow! We've got to get how much stuff done on the next few weeks? Well, I ain't working over the holidays, better call the consultants."


    And so they call and I work because, like retail, small-scale consulting depends in a large part on results accrued in December to make the rest of the year's numbers work. I was going over billing records from 2001 and saw that I worked 19 hours on Christmas Eve. I don't remember that day specifically, but I have vivid memories of calling a colleague before heading to bed around 4:30 a.m. to catch her as she started her day. Never have two people with opposite schedules worked so well together.


    And so goes life at the close of the year. Luckily, I anticipated the crunch and am largely satisfied with the status of present shopping, wrapping and shipping. I have a schedule laid out that will include gingerbread house construction, cooking baking, card writing and a few other holiday frills but, despite my recent promise, I'm not sure canning will be among them.


    This being said, I hope you'll stay tuned. We received a gift of pink grapefruit the other day, some of which is already earmarked for ginger-lime grapefruit marmalade to be made in the slower days of January. There are cranberries in the freezer, waiting for transformation into ruby red spicy chutney. Best of all, perhaps, is the can of glaceed chestnuts from which I am hoping to produce chestnut paste - perfect for Easter cake filling.


    Winter may yet be setting upon us but already I am thinking of Spring.

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