Ripening has taken it's course

The final batch of green tomatos have ripened in the cellar. Over 70lbs of tomatos were harvested this year, which is quite impressive for the two dollars and 50 cents spent on 2 tomato saplings. I covered my square meter garden with leaf molds to prevent soil erosion over the winter. The weather is getting progressively colder here in the northeast, though with stark exceptions. I have to give some small iota of thanks to Global Warming for the 70 degree weather last week.


In anycase, hunting season is in full swing, and I have made a new heavy hunting bow for the task at hand. It has a draw weight of 80 lbs and can pierce an inch thick oak board from 20 yards away. My archery skills are still not up to the task. I have taken multiple shots at small game in the last several weeks without once hitting the target. What really stings is that I've been practicing archery for years. And in this time only 2 rabbits have fallen to my missiles. It seems absurd that humanity had once relied upon hunting to survive. But with hindsight it is clear that as the last Ice Age ended, vast regions of tundra were replaced by forests and the grass-fed Megafauna were consequently replaced by smaller, more agile creatures. Thus man must have been FORCED into agriculture as a way of supplementing the ever diminishing animal resources that were obtainable by his primitive weaponery. The longbow, though elegant in it's design and function, is still outmatched by the cunning and agility of woodland game. While my arrows are fast, they are still not as fast as the speed of sound, and animals like deer and rabbits have more than once dodged the missiles in mid-flight. Moreover, the motion of drawing the bow to loose the arrow more often than not served as early warning for the animal targetted. Thus, successful bowhunting requires great stealth, coupled with extreme accuracy and speed of release. And these skills will take me many more seasons to master.