It's that time of year

Not the upcoming holidays, not feasting on turkey, not Christmas shopping...no, I'm talking about rutting season.

We live in a rural area, and I've mentioned that we have 11 acres. We also have a whole lot of deer (fun to watch, but not fun to run into). Most of the time we see does and fawns (we often see twins...they are so cute!), but tonight I watched an eight-point buck chase a doe through the marsh behind our house. I didn't see him catch her. Not that I really want to! Later, I looked outside, and there was a TEN-point buck standing on the path into the marsh. It's pretty unusual to see bucks. They seem to be a little more shy than the does. The does and fawns are so slender and look so delicate, but the bucks just look massive. They've got those broad chests, and their antlers look wicked sharp. I wouldn't want to tangle with one, that's for sure. I remember a story a while back about a buck getting into a guy's house, and the buck just tore him up. BAD Bambi! I love seeing our deer, but I keep my distance, and so do they. It's the country, not a petting zoo.

Bad day for the Bears. They lost to the Dolphins. Ken is at work, but I'm sure he has heard the news by now. Tonight, the Colts are playing the Patriots, so this should be a test for them. I don't think I've talked about how much I like Peyton Manning. Not only is he an impressive player, he is apparently a genuinely good guy, and quite funny. I've liked him from the beginning, and he's proven to be everything he was hyped to be. (One of my cousins and his wife are huge Tennessee fans, and they followed Peyton in his college days.) What I find amazing is how hard he works at his job, and how competitive he is. It's almost kind of funny, but he's definitely not a guy who is happy with losing. That's okay by me! I've already asked for a vacation day the Monday after the Superbowl. I do that every year, but I'm hoping this is the year for the Colts, and that I'll have a reason to celebrate bigtime!

And he does some pretty funny commercials, too. "Can you sign the bread for my little brother? He loves you." Ha!