Opening Day

Welcome to my blog.
Damn, what a way to start - seems exciting and depressing at the same time. You'd think a guy who writes for a living could come up with a better lede, but there it is.
This post has been a long time coming. You see, I've been reading blogs for several years now. the best of them have great content, excellent photos and, most importantly, focus. That's my problem - what to focus on. Well, I'm unemployed after 10 years in the newspaper business; I could write about that, but who wants to read self-pitying drivel? I'm a Yankee from Boston who ended up in North Carolina, but let's face it, most everyone in this country has a translocation story. I'm married 9 years to an incredible woman who miraculously continues to wake up each morning and decide to stay with me instead of packing up our two dogs and cat and make a run for it. My passions, aside from those I have for my wife, Sue, are hunting, cooking, nature watching and fishing. Probably in that order. Now we're getting somewhere. I can write about these.
It's funny. I started out birdwatching with my father when I was a little kid. I learned how to fish from him too, but hunting wasn't a part of my life until the last decade or so. Maybe it was because Dad doesn't hunt, or because opportunities were limited in the greater Boston area where I grew up. All I know is I have always, since I can remember, wanted to be a hunter. I used to go out in the backyard with a wooden yardstick and pretend it was a shotgun. I killed a lot of doves that way (and I knew they were doves thanks to Dad).
In my early teens, I even went so far as took take the Massachusetts Hunter Safety course. And Dad, bless his heart, took it with me. I scored a 90 of the final exam, but I didn't go hunting until 15 had passed and I'd moved to North Carolina with my then-girlfriend, Sue.
It took a long time and I have a lot of mentors to thank, but I now consider myself a passable outdoorsman, though my hunting buddies like to tease me because I can't tie a knot and I hate camping. All I know is I want to get better, a lot better, at it and continue doing it with some of the greatest friends I have ever met.
It's a similar story with the cooking. I came to it late, but it is now an all-consuming passion that I pursue every day. It only makes things worse that I try to incorporate the fish and wild game in the freezer into the menu. These obsessions feed upon one another to a point of distraction. I post a weekly dinner menu on the fridge and keep an inventory of all foodstuffs to what some might say crosses the line of anal retentiveness. So I'll write about cooking too.
This is my blog about hunting, fishing, nature, cooking, marriage, pets, politics, family and friends. If it lacks focus, sue me. I just want to tell some stories. I hope you enjoy and come back often.