Grumpy, Grandfather on my mother's side of the family was a cantankorus old fart who us kids didn't like much. It wasn't that we disliked him, more like we did not like him. It was more of a nuetral feeling we had if that makes any sense. He was just a gruff grumpy old person in our eyes.

Grandfather was a corporate pilot who flew biz jets and various other types of aircraft. One of the clients he flew was Orville Redenbacker, so we ate a lot of gormet popcorn growing up.

When Grumpy (Grandfather) wasn't off somewhere flying he worked for the railroad as a yard dispatcher. Plus in between jobs he was an avid fisherman and hunter.

Now its interesting that although Grumpy did a lot of really cool things we didn't see him in that light. As children, we would set "traps" when we stayed at Grandfathers house in an attempt to catch him when he came home late at night.

What I find interesting today is that I have become very much like Grumpy. In fact, in ways I am exactly like Grumpy. One way I emulated him was I became an avid hunter and fisherman. I spent many years hunting from my scooter, jeep, and truck. Hours of looking at hillside for my prey. Our children grew up on wild game Deer, Elk, Moose and Antelope.

Starring at those hillsides gave me lots of time to think. Lucky for me I came up with this crazy idea. You see, during hunting season you have basically 2 types of hunters. The die hard full time hunter who hunts until he fills his tag all day wandering the woods. Up the hill, down the hill. Constantly on alert for his prey.

Than the part timers would wander out before day break after a night of partying. Than wait for sunrise. However unlike the full time hunter, the part time hunter would return to camp by 9-9:30 AM and prepare breakfast. After a few more beers and a nap than more beer the part timer would head back into the forest an hour or so before sunset.

One chiily October morning I was pearched next to my truck watching a small meadow with a little pond in the center. The meadow was ringed by old growth pines allowing only about 50 foot of vision into the forest. ET could of landed there and I would never had known.

On this morning the air was cool and crisp. A fog had risen from the pond and floated around the meadow. I had arrived in my spot several hours before sunrise. However by about 10 that morning the smell of bacon, sausage, and other breakfast sorts started drifting thru the air. That Antelope jerky I had been chewing all morning was really starting to lose its appeal. A big ol' breakfast was calling.

But, just as I was thinking of heading back to camp the thought hit me. If I can smell all this breakfast fixings cooking so could the animals. This area was hunted very heavily. It was known for having trophy animals. So many Californian hunters, ( more on this in another post ) flocked to the area. So it would make sense that the animals would know that when that maple flavored aroma filled the morning air, most of the hunters had returned to their camps. Now that may seem strange but at that point I became a semi full time hunter. Instead of leaving for breakfast I opted that day to sit it out. 30 minutes later a young 4 point Elk came walking out of the forest, to the pond. And you know the rest of the story. After that day I never failed to bring home dinner.

It was also the solitude that I enjoyed. I mentioned this before about my long periods of being alone during my 5 hitch hiking trips cross country. As I sat on those cold October mornings I had plenty of time to look back and remember friends and family.

So like Grumpy, I too have a rather "grumpy" attitude as I grow older. But I now know its not grumpyness that both Grandfather and I knew.

Its really to bad that we don't miss people before they are gone...........