6 PM feels late when the sun sets at 4:28 PM. Michael and I are snuggled in by the wood stove with the cat and dog stretched out at our feet as I begin this post. A good time to reflect on why we are all exhausted.

The corollary of early sunsets are late sunrises. The sun peeked over the horizon at about 7:30 AM today. This particular sunrise is from November 19th, and so was about 15 minutes earlier. I hunted the day after opening, but saw no deer at all. I was not alone. Fewer deer have been harvested this year than last.

Sunshine set the wild grass heads aglow. Light becomes precious in November.

November 19th was warm enough to awaken all types of insects. This little lady became mired on a freshly skinned carcass.

“Warm” is a relative term. Our tractor shed kept all our venison quarters quite cool while awaiting processing. I got the hearts, livers, and back strap cleaned, sliced and packaged before Thanksgiving. This was two day’s worth of heavy lifting.

Wednesday the 22nd we cleaned house, dug up carrots and pre-made what we could. We use our deck as a supplemental refrigerator/freezer. Thanksgiving morning the frost danced over the cover of the honey and ginger glazed carrots.

A third of this cabbage served 14 people and then some. Creamed, it was declared delicious.

I recognized this chicken by the way his leg stuck out. I thanked him once again for being a fine bird.

Beets, squash, carrots, stuffing, potatoes, chicken and canned cranberries made a lovely meal. A dear friend sent me the mushroom napkins for a festive touch. Some wild hen of the woods may have snuck into that dressing….

The Grand Girls raided the pickles and olives before dinner.

The best part of having a full house was having a house where family can gather and be together. A friend came over and was mumbling about how his brother had to have the best of everything, meaning the most expensive of everything. I laughed and told him I actually did have the best of everything. He raised the glass of cider we served and generously agreed.

The Friday after Thanksgiving I started processing the quarters of the doe I harvested. The next day I helped my daughter process the back strap and quarters from the deer her husband shot. We got most of the deer turned into venison, packaged and sent home with them.

November 26th brought our first snow since late October.

I stayed inside and ground 31 pounds of bits and pieces into venison burger. Both the deer that my son in law and I shot rendered about 45 pounds of meat each: roasts, stew, medallions, and burger.

Michael shot one last doe on closing day. He sat in the stand my son in law uses. We had cleared brush from that area several days before the season opened. My upper back ached from wielding my 6” electric chain saw (Michael cut bigger trees with the 20” gas powered saw), but our efforts paid off. I finished processing this doe three days ago. It was a bit smaller and resulted in 40 pounds of venison. I’ve been rendering fat for soap ever since. So far I have about 10 pounds of tallow (the fat resulting from rendering). I may have that much more by the time I’m done. Michael would like to harvest two more deer from our land, one to split between our children and one for his brother. I’m thankful for the venison we have and amazed that we still have room in our freezers.

The chickens would be delighted if Michael shot another deer. They are such tiny dinosaurs! Rawr. Squawk. The cleaned bones will go on the pyre we have built on our garden plot. We await New Years (and the final end of the hunting season) to set it ablaze, returning minerals to be used by next year’s crops.

The sun has long since set and now Michael gently snores as I finish this post. Tomorrow we will arise with the sun. Michael will feed and water the birds and I will walk Zeke. We will head into the Cities to deliver St. Nicholas packages to children and friends. Food. Clothing. A gift from this land on which we toil, and which in turn rewards us with gifts from the earth.