The 49th Annual Wild Game Feed at Irvine Lake is scheduled for
Friday, September 15, 2017, and nothing I can do will make it appear any
sooner. Each year the third Friday in
September takes about 200 centuries to arrive.
The more I try to speed it up, the longer it takes to arrive, but that
doesn’t stop me from trying. Believe
me, if I had a time machine…
The holidays are over, and my Santa season has slowed down
quite a bit. Almost immediately after
the Feed is over each year I jump right into the red suit and ride the red
sleigh for a few months. I don’t have
time to even think about the AWGF, and that is a good thing, otherwise the wait
for the Feed would seem even longer.
But the red suit is now at the cleaners, and I have time to think.
In the past few days I began to prep for the Feed. I pulled out my shelters to check them over
and discovered a broken leg and a rip in the top and side of one of them. Maybe I should go back to using just one
shelter—it was easier anyway. I’m
having difficulty finding quality quail eggs this year, but I’ll keep working
on it. As always, no guarantees that
I’ll succeed, but I’ll try. And I took
stock of my cigars. Uh, I think I
over-bought. Right now I have over 300
with more on order, and during the year I usually don’t smoke more than three
or four apart from the Feed.
This year I’m planning to pack a little lighter than in the
past. It’s just getting to be too much
for this old man to handle, so my list of things to bring is getting an
overhaul. If I haven’t used it in the
past two years, I’m not bringing it.
(The two exceptions are my small first aid kit and T.P.) I think this will eliminate about ten to
fifteen percent of the burden. When I
started going to the feed I was in my late forties, and the baggage was no
problem, but now I’m in my late sixties and just walking from the parking lot
to the entry booth is getting difficult.
Time to reduce the ‘stuff.’
I was actually thinking of bringing only the basics as I
once did long ago, but that’s just a bit too Spartan for me. I need a shelter, table, chair, mug, real
knife fork and spoon, and my ice chest with a few bottles of cider in it. I guess I also need to bring my cigars and
pickled quail eggs (if I can make them this year), and some plastic bags to
bring a few morsels home in. Let’s see,
paper towels, cigar cutter, heavy-duty paper plates and bowls (I don’t like the
cardboard boats they serve the food in), barbeque sauce, mustard, cigar lighter,
bottled water, and toothpicks. I think
I’m back to the full load. So much for
reducing the burden.
Well, I guess rather than try to reduce the load I’ll just
start the process of obsessing over the packing procedure and modifying my
checklist. There’s nothing as
frustrating as last minute packing only to discover at the Feed a few important
items were forgotten such as a ticket, or cigars, or a chair. All it takes is to forget just one essential
to make for a less than perfect day. I
forgot my ticket once (once), and had to drive all the way back home (over 30
miles away) to retrieve it. Pooh! But I discovered the problem early and was
able to get back to the Feed in time to see the start of the procedure. I wasn’t first in line, but I didn’t miss
anything either.
I hope to see everyone again this year. Remember, when the ticket order form arrives
in late May or early June, don’t hesitate to place your order, or the Feed may
go on without you.