Dr. Pann’s Blog

My morning hunt got rained out. I was up at 4:45 ready to compete with my quarry. Instead, it was raining, blowing and nasty for a bow hunter. I went back to bed. The alarm went off at the normal hour and my wife elbowed me in the side, a sure indication it was time to get up. Later as I sat behind the desk, morning began to dawn. Normally I have to close the window shades due to a blinding sunrise. Today was different, I had to sip my coffee and observe. Clouds covered the entire sky with the exception of the edges. Slowly colors began to change. First a shade of gray competed with the fullness of cover. Next came a slow burning yellow followed by a blaze of orange. It was breathtaking and a reminder of Scripture in John one which says, ‘The light shown in darkness.” Suddenly the light disappeared. Clouds overtook it. It would seem clouds had one. A small hole was made and the sun’s rays shot through. The sun was there all the time! Kind of sounds like life doesn’t it? Our days are often filled with clouds of worry, despair and doubt. While we may not see it, the sun rises every day and provides illumination for all. Guess what? Jesus rose as well. He provides illumination, deliverance from worry and freedom from doubt. Look behind the clouds friend. The Son is still shining! Have a great day in the Lord!

It was unusually dark this morning. The crafty buck had been eluding me for several days now and it was time to try another tactic. He was coming by my stand too early for a shot as there was not light yet. I decided to sneak in earlier than usual and sit quietly hoping he would pass by after the eastern sky began to turn gray. I parked the truck in the usual spot and began the long walk down a well worn path. The wind was in my favor and there was a bit of moisture remaining from a heavy dew. It took about ten minutes to arrive at my destination. My exit into the woods was to the left. I got about halfway down the path and realized things didn’t look right…especially in the dark. Backtracking was a challenge with low light, but I managed to get the job done. Dry branches cluttered about the ground have now been stepped on twice. I find my tree stand and immediately trip over logs and hidden twigs. By now, I have made enough noise to wake up the dead. My bow clangs against the ladder stand and the woods becomes alive with the sound of departing hoof beats. I do not see anything…wonder why? I had set my trail camera up to “spy” out another area. I captured half a head on one frame and three headless bodies on the others. Guess the camera was set too high. All these insignificant steps prove to be contributing factors in the lack of deer sightings. Still, I am having fun, and enjoying God’s creation. One of these days I will realize success. One thing is comforting. I already am accepted in His eyes, and have my place established in heaven. So no matter how much noise I make in the woods or if the wind blows in the wrong direction, My eternal destiny is already set. Is yours? Call upon Jesus today and settle the matter in your heart right now. Have a great day in the Lord!

Another peril of hunting is tree limb trimming. I managed to cut a finger on both hands this year. Right at the knuckle. The spot makes them very slow to heal. Add to that the aspirin Doc has me taking, it takes awhile to stop bleeding. In typical fashion, there are no band aids to be found which then requires innovative thinking. Another handkerchief bites the dust. Once home the wound is cleansed and the bleeding stopped. Next comes the clean band aids…only the normal kind is not to be found. They have all been replaced by “Dora” and “Sponge Bob.” In our case it is pronounced, “Spun Bodge.” The youngest grandchild jabbered something about PaPa’s widgersmackalottie and repeated “Oh, no.” The four year old grabbed both boxes of band aids and proceeded to do her nurse thing. Several strips later and not a one covering my cut, the job was done. I was the proud owner of Dora and Sponge Bob attire. She confidently stated, “It will be all better now PaPa!” So far, I am two for two in the sympathy department. Soon the oldest is out of school and granny returns home after picking her up. One look my way and she asks in passing. “What’s wrong with you PaPa?”
“I cut myself today. Want to see?”
“No, that’s gross…grandma? what’s to eat?”
“Don’t you care about your crippled, ailing PaPa?”
“Papa!”
“What?”
“You’re not that hurt, quit acting like a baby.”
Fortunately I still had my first two sympathizers. One wants to add more Dora’s and Spun Bodges, the other wants to explain what happened to me in a foreign language. I take solace in knowing I am loved. Do you know God loves you? Have a great day in the Lord!

I finally finished my third round of medicine for poison Sumac. It was a stubborn rash this time. I get some every year come hunting season. One would think with so much experience in this area over the years, one would learn to identify the offending stuff. So far, the hunting has not gone well as far as results are concerned. I have enjoyed the breathtaking beauty of God’s creation, seen lots of wild game and had my share of misses. Still the opportunity to appreciate what the Lord has made, to laugh at the antics of nature and (myself for that matter) are priceless. Take for example my latest outing. I was at a new spot, a fresh tree stand and new anticipation. I had been sitting for about an hour and fifteen minutes with nothing stirring, not even a mouse when four deer appeared. I sized them up and decided on the largest. About the time the moment of truth had arrived, Bucky came snorting and prancing onto the scene. The four does ran off and he followed. I heaved a sigh of disappointment and mentally began cutting my losses. Feeling it futile, I still made a grunting noise on my deer call. Well, what do you know…he turned and came toward me. Stopping long enough to spar with some overhanging branches, he also made a scrape below them, pawing out a bare spot on the ground. This was his calling card to the girls. Moments later two of the does exited the woods and headed away from me. He noticed the movement, (typical male) and started after them. He paused fourteen yards from me ( I will know this because I stepped it off later.) There was nothing between us but air. I pulled back my bow string and launched an arrow. The bow sounded like a banjo and my arrow took off like a scud missile. (I never did find it.) The buck snorted, and bolted back to whence he had come. I replayed the mishap and re-inacted the moment. Near as I can tell, the string hit my jacket and sent the arrow on its errant flight. At first I was disgusted with myself, then it became quite funny. I was certain the Lord was laughing and saying something like, “Dan, you have done it again!” I’ll give that spot a rest and then try things again. Kind of like our faith. So we get knocked around a little. Paul said he was “cast down but not destroyed.” (II Corinthians 4:9) Way to go Paul! Let’s do the same. Have a great day in the Lord!

It was thirty hours out to Utah and thirty hours back. Nonstop six guys together riding in a motorhome. Nebraska looks the same both directions. Boring. Running a close second was Iowa. Colorado was gorgeous as was Utah. Chicago was, well…what can one say about that city. As usual, the traffic was terrible, and so were the roads. We chased elk for six days, with no success. We hunted high country, we hunted low country. It didn’t seem to matter since if we were over here, they were over there. The trout fishing was fabulous. One time we had to catch our limits of fish in a snow storm. Another time, we fished at night with a bonfire keeping us warm. Everyone caught fish. A mountian lion track was found outside the motorhome that evening. I think he was looking for fish heads. A couple of the guys made a great deal of racket while sleeping. I believe it is called, “snooring.” They made enough noise to wake up the dead. Let’s say they could have built several log homes nightly. We had fried fish, elk steaks, smoked fish, lots of sweets prepared by loved ones and the accomodations were both surprising and breathtaking. It was a log home, nestled on forty acres at the base of a large mountain. We had to ride four wheelers back in the middle of whowhere. I loved it. I almost hit a horse one dark morning, but did not miss the deer that ran out in front of my quad. It rolled around a bit, but got up and ran off. One of our guys had his elk basically shot out from under him. God had His hand of protection around us all the way. We had no vehicle trouble, nor major traffic tie ups. The fellowship was grand, the comraderie equally the same. Plans are already being made for next year somewhere. Someone might think the trip was a failure due to no elk taken. The most important thing was spending time with the Lord. Have you spent any time with Him lately? Give it a try. It’ll be well worth it. Have a great day in the Lord!