Beginning of the End (for now)

I haven't been out in the field in 7 months. The house renovation has been all consuming; its appetite for time, money and energy seemingly bottomless. The missing year is like a missing limb. But it is coming closer to ending. Today, the floors are being sanded in preparation for new stain. This will allow us to begin the final phase of renovation and start to live a normal (if there is such a thing) life again. I hope to be involved in a full hunting schedule in the fall.

Has it been worth it? Worth is a tough word to define. In a strict financial sense, probably would be about even. In a standard of living sense, again close to even. We will have a beautifully updated house, but it will not be the perfect house we stay in for the rest of our lives. In a learning sense, it will be worth it. We have become rather proficient in most areas of home repair and renovation. These skills will serve us well for the rest of our lives. In the end, beyond a quantitative analysis, I strangely would not want to erase the last year. I'm glad we did what we did even though we sacrificed a lot. This was a test; a test of endurance, of will, of a multitudinous amount of newly learned skills, of patience, of philosophy, and many more. And I think we passed the test, and I would not want to lose that experience.

However, I don't ever want to do it again. And I am ready to get back to the field. First up hopefully will be some summer bass fishing. Maybe in June.

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