Big Bear

I killed my first bear yesterday.  I was watching the Auburn-Mississippi State game on TV when I heard that a big bear had been spotted on private land not far from where I was at that time. There aren't many things that will pull me away from an Auburn game, but a big bear is definitely one of them!  I went to take a look, and he was definitely a big boar black bear.  I had to drive all the way home to get my rifle and the bear tag I'd applied for earlier this year - never expecting that I would actually have the opportunity to shoot one.  By the time I got back to the place I'd seen him, he had been spooked up into a huge pine tree and he was lying on a branch probably 40 feet up.  I was amazed that he'd climbed that high, as the tree was surrounded by branches all the way up and he was very large - maybe 275-300 lbs.  I only took one shot, and that was all that was needed.  It took me and a friend almost two hours to figure out how to get him into the back of a pickup truck due to his weight.  It must have been around 2 pm when I killed him, and I didn't get home until 11:30 last night.  There was no one available to help me clean the bear, and it took me all of that time to finish skinning and cleaning him (much of the time was me trying to figure out the best way to do the job).  Thankfully my neighbor Brian has a large crane with a pulley system that allowed me to hang him up, which made the job easier for me.  When I called my brother to tell him about the bear, he said, "I guess you've really joined the ranks of the Mountain Men now!  The meat is hanging in Brian's big cooler, and I'll take the hide to a taxidermist this week to get tanned.

Karine is now settled in Alabama.  I flew down with her last week, and spent most of the week looking for a car for her, then getting it registered and insured.  We found a 10-year old Toyota Corolla that is in great shape, and the only drawback is that it's a stick shift.  By the second day of trying to teach her to drive with a stick I was getting concerned that our relationship wouldn't last the experience... but she finally got the hang of it (as we all do) and she's driving like a pro now.  Getting the car registered was a pain, because Jefferson county (where Birmingham is located) is flat broke, and they've closed all but one of the satellite offices.  Karine and I showed up at the courthouse at 6:30 a.m. and there were already 25 people in line.  By the time the doors opened at 8 there were at least 100 people in line behind us.  Of course, when we got inside we were told that we didn't have all the documentation that we needed, which meant another trip downtown that afternoon and another hour waiting in line.  Karine already has a job at The Urban Cookhouse, which is a restaurant that's owned by some friends of my brother Bill who also attend his church.  We're praying that the Lord will quickly provide her with several Christian friends, which will help her to adapt all the sooner to life in Alabama.  One of the main reasons why we wanted her to spend some time in Alabama was so she could meet some young people her age who are excited about their relationship with God.

That's all for now.