Paying Attention

This is what happens when you only halfway pay attention and give an answer to a question you heard only bits and pieces of.  Something we men began perfecting back in the days of Adam and Eve.

A few years ago my good friend, Anthony (the cat in the brown overalls), came home after a long week of business travel.  As the story goes, he was worn out and all he really wanted to do was relax in his recliner with a cold beer, a half dozen pickled eggs and a bag of BBQ potato chips.   His then 13 year old son (we'll call him "George") ran into the room and ask his Dad, what sounded to Anthony like, "Hey Dad, can I shoot some buckets in the backyard off the deck?" Anthony responded, "Sure George; have at it." What Anthony didn't know, because, remember, he was only halfway paying attention, was that his 13 year old son George had, in reality asked, "Hey Dad, can I shoot a buck in the backyard off the deck?"

Well, as you might have guessed by now, young George proceeded to do just what he'd received approval to do from his Ol' Pop:  Shoot a buck in the backyard off the deck.  Now, in many parts of the country this wouldn't have been a problem.  But for my friend, Anthony, it was not only a problem, it was a huge problem. Why? Because the Durrings didn't live on the outskirts of Dodge, Nebraska or any of the other numerous farming communities scattered across the Midwestern portion of this great nation of ours. No, not even close. The Durring family of 6 lived in an upscale gated community in the middle of the one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States of America.  To make matters worse, this deer was known throughout the neighborhood as "Henry the friendly Deer" and was loved by all those who had been fortunate enough to get close enough to pet him.

Anyway, as the old saying goes...stuff happens. Unfortunatley for Anthony, a local freelance reporter named Wogs Dandy had "coincidently" been hanging out in their neighbor's backyard in hopes of getting a picture of Henry, the super-friendly neighborhood deer, for a story he was doing on the domestication of previosly-wild and free range animals.  To make matters worse, Wog's cousin, Mitch Mitch, the local game warden, also "coincidentally" happened to be in the area. (He's the guy dragging the contraband deer.) Thus, the look of angst on Anthony's face when I snapped this picture on Nikon 5000D.

Fast forward to today and on the sordid side of the Durring Family History (which includes famous story lines like, "Honest officer: I thought the Seagull was a Canada Goose!" and "Did you just shoot me?"), this story is now in books!

Should any other Durring Family "wildlife violation stories" come up, I'll do my best to keep you posted...