Gary Greene’s Memories from an Old Hunter….#41
My wife Chris is an extremely intelligent woman. She is a Veterinarian, with specific certifications as an animal Acupuncturist and Chiropractor, with additional master degrees in human Acupuncture and Herbalogy. She also is the CEO of Herbsmith where her company makes herbs for animals.
As you can read above, she has more degrees than a circle, so when I am debating a subject with her, I better bring some substantial facts to the table. I was a physical education teacher for 30+ years, and currently, I like to joke that I blew up balls for a living.
Where do all these mundane facts lead the reader?
My son Nate and I were discussing the wind direction for the next morning’s duck hunt, and we mentioned that the wind was going to be out of the south. Of course, we were not pleased because a good, strong, cold wind out of the north or northwest could bring down some of the northern ducks that have yet to migrate through our state.
We intentionally place ourselves in our boat on a point of cattails that gives us a good set up for all wind directions. Our location also gives the ducks protection from the south-southwest and the west-northwest winds. If the wind is out of the east, the ducks might give our decoys a pass, but we don’t provide them with protection on a windy day.
That was our discussion around the dining room table as we were glassing the lake for evening birds. Now, Chris loves our passion for the sport of waterfowl hunting, but she also laughs at us about all the specifics we are always discussing. That’s when she made fun of us and started talking about: “The wind is going north.”
“The wind is going north!” I couldn’t let that statement slide without a follow up from me. I said: “Who says that? It should be the wind is out of the south or from the south.” She disagreed with my comeback and added: “There’s nothing wrong with saying the wind is going north!” I again came back with: “No, there’s nothing wrong with that, but no one else in the world says that.”
After numerous laughs and some other exchanges that are not for print, I came through with my final power answer: “Chris, have you ever heard a TV weatherman state that tomorrow’s wind will be up to 20 MPH going to the north!!!”……. I won.
Now, part two of my wind memory.
In September of 2016, Chris and I enjoyed a vacation on the island of Maine’s Acadia National Park. On our way out of the park, Chris bought this magnificent weathervane for the top of our home’s garage roof. It consists of three full sized copper Canada Geese with wings fully extended and flying at three different levels. It is so large and heavy that the stand the company provided would not adequately support the weathervane, so I made a heavy duty stand that fit over the correct angle of our roof. One Saturday morning after our weekly duck hunt, Nate and I were up on the roof installing the stand. He did most all of the work, with the stand and the weathervane being heavy and awkward to handle. I supervised and hung on to the roof so I wouldn’t be a casualty.
Nate and Gary Greene making the final adjustments on our three goose weathervane.
Those three geese are extremely majestic and the stand has held up to some of those 70 MPH spring winds we had. On a daily basis, I catch myself admiring those three copper geese against the blue background. What is really jaw dropping to see is when the actual Canada Geese leave our lake and fly ten feet directly over our weathervane, I have yet to get a picture and I don’t believe a picture would do the whole scenario justice.
I tell Chris that is like a religious experience when referring to seeing our copper geese joining a flock of Canada flyers. I refer to the weathervane as Mount Goosemore. Honestly, Chris and I have our own little piece of the rock as I get the same feeling that I received when I viewed the carved stone, presidential heads.
We are admiring the finished product and hoping it will withstand the wind.