Pomegranate baseball

....sounds like fun, don't it?

Well, there was a series of poor choices made yesterday afternoon...

Number one, probably the worst; I decided that I could trust my kids and their buddy to get on with their homework unattended while I took care of some stuff online (OK I was surfing...)
Not so. Bad dad.

Number two; my kids opted for play first, THEN homework... they know better than this, or at least I thought they did...

Number three; my kids hopped the fence to our next-door neighbor's yard to take some pomegranates from their tree (my neighbor's moved out and the house is vacant at present, and they had told us to feel free to come over and take whatever fruit we wanted - they have a lot of fruit trees - however, I don't want my kids going over there without a grown-up, something that I hope now is VERY clear).

Number four; since they couldn't find a baseball, the kids decided that these round, red, somewhat OVERRIPE fruits that they had just taken from next door would make an excellent substitute. That's right; batting practice in my backyard with pomegranates. Notice the plural - pomegranates do not survive more than one contact with a baseball bat, so yes, they used multiple pomegranates...

Last night, right before we were to leave for football practice, my daughter's conscience got the better of her and she spilled the beans. I walked up the drive into the back, surveyed the carnage, and told them to pick up the larger pieces... in a rather large OUTDOOR voice... since we were pressed for time, I left it at that for the time being.

Tonight, before they get to do anything fun, EVERY LAST SEED shall be removed from my backyard...

And yes, it was quite hard to keep a straight face throughout. I was a kid myself too, once...

This one time - in deer camp...

Deer season opened up October 4th this year in the zone we like to hunt, which is X1, all the way up in Siskiyou County by Mt Shasta. I got to work on Friday the 3rd at 6am, got off at 3, got my crap together and headed upstate.
13 hours and 720 miles later I pulled into camp right at 6am where my buddies (who had come up the day before) were getting ready to go out. I had just enough time to change into some warmer clothes and grab my .308.
Saturday rained all day, so we spent a lot of time in my friend's truck, just cruising the lonely dirt roads way back in the forest. Saw plenty of does and fawns, but no legal bucks.
The next few days the weather cleared up so we could break out the ATVs and the Rhino - much fun!
I stayed till Tuesday, but struck out as far as deer are concerned. No matter - the Shasta-Trinity forest is incredibly beautiful and the company was great. I heartily enjoy my forays into California's northern forests, and look forward to these trips every year.
The highlight of my trip...
My friend Shane and I were walking along a remote road, looking for sign of deer. I was ahead, looking into the trees on our left, when Shane let out with:"Bear!"
Since this guy is a jokester, I turned back towards him to say something like "Yeah, very funny," when he pointed past me with a stricken look on his face.
Sure enough, there was a middlin' sized Black Bear ambling down the road towards us about 80 yards distant. The bear turned into the trees on our right, still ambling along at an easy pace, until he drew about even with us. Finally he caught sight of us and took off running. You don't see that every day, at least not down here in the brown valley...
OK - some pics...

A gap in the forest from up high - the trees go for miles and miles. Fantastic. I think this was Saturday, because it looks a bit gloomy.

Mt Shasta through the trees. You have this vast green carpet of trees with a stark white cone sticking up out of the middle of it all. There's snow on there year round, I believe.
Some of the "ATV militia" on the prowl...
Motor pool back at camp...

Dew-dusted trees...

Mt Shasta from the McCloud gas station on the way back home...