DEER FEVER

Two of my children are running high fevers today. They are both agitated, restless, and unable to focus. I know it's pointless to get out the Tylenol or Motrin - this is just one of those things that has to run its course. By tomorrow night, my boys will have returned to normal, with only bright eyes and glowing cheeks giving testimony to today's internal inferno.

Twenty-four hours from now, Lord willing, these two boys will be eagerly perched in deer stands back on the family farm. The stands are waiting, bows are readied, gear collected and prepared. Both have invested much time in target practice. The weather forecast has become almost an obsession - what high and low temperatures are predicted for tomorrow? What about the wind direction? Will skies be clear or overcast? Any chance of precipitation? The National Weather Service website has probably been swamped by keyed-up hunters this week!

I'm sure my boys have already planned their 4:00 a.m. breakfast for tomorrow, as well as what sustenance they'll need to pack with them into the woods. It'll be early bedtimes at the Kendall house tonight, and I suspect Nate won't be in the mood to tolerate any loud, late-night movies for the rest of us!

But less than 36 hours from now, after the Saturday sun has set and we are gathered around the table for dinner, the fever will have broken. Instead of fitful pacing and chatter, instead of the nerve-wracking countdown, there will be stories of the big buck that was "just out of range," the doe that walked right underneath the deer stand, the turkeys heard in the cool morning air before dawn, maybe even the unsuspecting bobcat spotted tip-toeing through the underbrush. Excited tales of the day's adventures and eager plans for the next hunt.

And maybe this time tomorrow, just maybe, there will be the first installment of this year's meat for the freezer, hanging in the walk-in cooler at the meat processor's. Your Mom wishes you both Good Hunting, boys!

Anybody else out there afflicted with a similar bug this week?!