Chanticleer in the Morning

Late in the summer, as I was making a stop by to check on the Yum Yums - they were much smaller back then - I came across a curious construction project under the shelter of the barn over there at Public House Produce.  It was a very interesting little building that reminded me of the pool cabana at Hawksbill Cabin, but since the proprieter was away I didn't have a chance to ask what it was designed for...I thought he might be building a little fruit stand to sit out there by the side of the road and vend his sweet corn from.

In the waning weeks of the Luray Page Farmers Market I finally had a chance to ask about it.  David told me it was the "Huntin' Shack" - a small shelter that would serve as a deer blind once the season finally got started.  Thereafter, I wanted to touch base for construction updates, and there were plenty.

Then last week, when Chris and I stopped by for our Yum Yums progress visit, we encountered David freshly returned from the Huntin' Shack, where he'd had a successful morning hunt.  He was in the middle of butchering a buck, but once he finished the chore he offered to take us for a walk to see the Huntin' Shack in the field.

And so we did.  It looks to be a fairly comfortable perch for a hunter to watch and wait from.  It's got good sight lines, and adequate shelter from the cold wind and rain.  There's a rumor of a heater in there, but I didn't see it when I went inside.

No TV in there either, but there were some good choices of reading materials.  Right on top lay a Thoreau tome, a combined volume with Civil Disobedience and Walden.  As David talked about the shack, and some of the events that had taken place there, it was almost as if I could hear him quoting Thoreau - hey, the shack has its similarities to that little place by the pond!

"I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up."