Short and Sweet: Moose Hunting with a Lightsaber, Benefits of Teaching, and Coffee from The Parlour.
Good morning folks! I hope you are doing well on this beautiful, crisp Saturday morning. I am sitting in my living room, with the fireplace lit, and enjoying a bit of writing. This week I’ve experienced a wide range of emotions: sadness (Nov. 1st, it was the first year since my mother-in-law’s passing), laughter (my children’s humorous antics) and mixed feelings (finding a new home for our Weiner-dog Levi).
Yes sir! It’s been a whole mixing pot of emotions. Yet, in the midst of this – I still feel at peace. I know that the Lord is in control, and I do not have to worry; all these things are in His hands. Without further ado, let’s jump into our blog!
Pour up a cup of coffee or tea, have a treat, and enjoy another post by The Eason Clan.
Moose Hunting with a Lightsaber
Walking through the thick grass, three pairs of boots trudged through the open field. There was fresh dew on the ground; moose tracks were imprinted in the mud strewn paths, and the wind was rustling the tree tops of the spruce trees along the fields edge.
Three hunters walked towards the tree line, searching for a small bog, untouched by humans. Then without warning, a sound arose from the rear hunter, “DUM DEE DUM! I KNOWWWWW, GOODDDD LOOOVEEE MEE. DUMMMM DEEEEE.”
I turned in surprise as Isaac was releasing a spontaneous, loud, random song from his lips.
So it begins.
“Isaac,” I hissed quietly, “You can’t make any noise, we are moose hunting!”
I watched as he quickly slapped his hand over his mouth, and let out an audible, “Opps! Sorry, Da da.” We continued on through the tall stalky field grass, passing old farm equipment and rusty scrap metal scattered on the ground.
In between myself and Isaac, was my oldest, Benaiah, stern faced and eyes attentive towards the bog.
Our first moose hunting trip together.
We were walking in the very area, where I had downed my first moose years earlier. Yet, on this particular morning, I felt a different kind of joy than getting my first moose – now I was hunting with my boys. (I had offered to let the girls go hunting, however, they were more interested in completing their puzzle at home. Equality all around!)
I came to the familiar opening in the trees, which I knew would lead me to the bog. I took my German K98 Mauser rifle, which was slung over my shoulder, and gripped it in my hands – it was go time. Maybe the same situation would repeat itself this time: a moose feeding at the back of the bog, unaware of my presence. I told the boys to stay by the edge of the trees, as I carefully made my way through the trees, watching my step, so I wouldn’t step on any rocks, branches, or a hidden bog hole in the path. As I walked out onto the bog, I heard the familiar SQUISH of my boots pressing down into the spongy, water filled grass – I kept my attention to my left and stopped in my tracks…surveying my surroundings.
Yet, I should have known – history does not repeat itself.
Nothing.
No sign of moose. No dark silhouette against the trees, no shadowy figure, no out-of-place statue on the flat bog – today would not be my day.
After an hour of hunting, we made our way back to our vehicle. Isaac exclaimed out loud, “I’m gonna take my lightsaber, and cut the moose in half!” His statement was followed by a quick, fell, swipe of an imaginary lightsaber. He then slashed back and forth in the air, as if cutting down his foe.
If there was a moose in the tree line, he must have thought those three crazy humans dressed in orange, with one the size of Frodo Baggins slashing wildly in the air, were strange creatures indeed.
“Yes by, dem humans are nuts.”
Benefits of Teaching
I love teaching.
I enjoy getting up in the morning. The thought of heading to work, to experience something new each day, and to learn new topics for myself is exciting. It’s a privilege to be involved in the shaping of minds, hearts, and everything else in-between in the classroom.
Now that it’s year two of full-time teaching, I find it still as exciting as year one; plus I have some amazing coworkers that add to the experience and support me. On top of that, I get to go to school with my children – which can sometimes be quite nuts, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. There are so many things I could write about! Though, for the sake of time, I will only write about topic- my humorous students.
Whether it’s their wisecracks, respectful “tips” regarding a misspelled word on my board, or comical drawings on the back of their tests or in their journals, I surprised daily by them. Recently, one of my students finished a test early, so I handed that student a piece of paper and asked if they could draw me a specific picture – The Vision from Marvel (my favourite Marvel character).
This is the finished product.
All done within five minutes.
Honestly it’s hard to believe that we are into the month of November all ready, considering it feels like school just started. Now comes the time for buckling down in school work and completing our next Current Events assignment (students find a recent news article, summarize it, and then explain how it could be historically important). For those students of mine who read my blog, I look forward to your next completed work – I can almost hear your audible groans happening right now. See you in class on Monday! Mr.E
The Parlour
In the beginning of October, I made a difficult decision – I gave up caffeine.
Yes, it was hard. I actually stopped drinking anything with caffeine for a month, because I found it was affecting my heart rate and I didn’t know what was causing this. Better to cover all my bases and start to rule out some factors – so I started there first.
After some experimentation, I discovered what was causing the issue (I think) of my elevated heart rate; I have been working on that now, and have reintroduced caffeinated coffee into my life again!
Yet, while I was on decaf products only, I was talking to a friend of mine who owns a coffee shop, The Parlour, located in downtown St. John’s. I explained my situation (drinking only decaf K-Cups) and he assured me that he would hook me up with some of his coffee. Sure enough, a few days later he showed up at my workplace and supplied me with some freshly roasted, ground decaf coffee – queue up Fred Astarie’s musical hit, “I’m In Heaven ”.
I thanked my British coffee supplier, and the very next day I brewed some of this new coffee.
Just like Fred Astaire cutting loose at the 1970’s Oscars…
…my mind went into overdrive (yes, it was still decaf) as I tasted the woody, smooth, rich coffee.
Dang, was it great.
I’ve heard some great things about The Parlour – authentic Gelato and amazing tasty treats, so if you’re ever in the area of Military Road in St. John’s, check out this excellent spot – you might even experience my kind of “Heaven,” moment.
If you enjoyed this post, leave us a Like or a Share. Have a great week!
Christian
The Eason Clan 