deer

Beechwoods Park

~ randyaa ~ 2 Comments

First, a confession:  Unlike the others, this is not being written on location at all, I’m writing it at home after going earlier today which is why it’s getting posted so late.

Beechwoods park is a neat little park.  I only recently discovered it while we were house shopping.  Haven’t had the chance to stop by until today.  The park provides some hiking trails along a pretty little brook and winds itself  between a few nice neighborhoods. There are a few bridges over the brook which take you to big open green sections that are maintained by the town.

There are 2 main entrances to the park, and a little over a mile in trails that loop between them.  The North entrance to the park is on High Street Extension and the South entrance to the park is off of Squirrels Heath Rd.  However; one of the really neat things about the park is there are TONS of entrances all over.  Not just hidden trails either, full on signed entrances, just without parking lots.  It seems like they were put in to give access to the park from the neighborhoods it goes through which is really nice.

Although I started my little walk at the north entrance I would suggest you start at the south parking lot and do the loop.  The reason is the north end seems to be a bit wet and a bit swampy.  The trail is in good shape and a little raised, but I have a feeling that come fly season it might be a bit overrun.

Beechwoods park is not a great hiking destination, it’s a bit small, only about a mile of trails, and if you’re not moving fast during fly season it might be a bit uncomfortable.

Beechwoods is a fantastic trail running or mountain biking location (I’m not sure if the town allows bikers or not but I saw tracks so at least some people use it that way).  it’s not overly long but if you’re looking for a quick workout or a place you can do some laps in the great outdoors it’s fantastic!

It’s also a great place to see some flora or fauna.  While I was there today I saw:

It’s a nice little break from the monotony of urban sprawl.

And as always, I’ve created a map of my little hike through Beechwoods park and you can see the path I took (with relatively decent accuracy, I’ll work on that) below.

GPS tracking powered by InstaMapper.com

http://www.instamapper.com/trk?key=15070518653028619441&width=500&height=350&type=roadmap

When a Hunter Should Sue

~ randyaa ~ 5 Comments

Most lawsuits I hear about are completely ridiculous and the people are out to get nothing more than a quick paycheck.  That being said…

I think my Father should sue.

One day, about 3 years ago, he started seeing a tiny spot in his right eye if he looked in one specific direction while turning his head in one specific way.  The next day it got a little bigger so he immediately went to the eye doctor who didn’t know what was happening.  The eye doctor sent him to a specialist.  However; the specialist couldn’t see him for about a week.

By the time my father got to see the specialist, the vision in his right eye was almost entirely foggy and blurry.  He could barely see out if his right eye.  The first thing the specialist says?  “The eye doctor should have sent you to the Emergency room immediately.”

Something in the back of his eye started bleeding and the gray foggy spot was the blood spreading over his retina.  If he had been sent to the emergency room instead of waiting for a specialist they could have cauterized the bleeding and he would still have his vision.  It was too late to do anything and unfortunately he is now blind in his right eye.

I didn’t really think much about it until this year.

He’s been hunting for 50+ years with his right hand and eye.  When he first lost his vision he spent a lot of time trying to learn to shoot with his left.  He even bought a new single shot rifle just to practice with.

This year my father shot at a few deer but he didn’t get one.  He took a lot of crap for it too.  My father, the expert marksman, who had officers placed bets on his accuracy while he was in basic training, has gone from getting 5 deer a year to 0.

Before you say it’s because he’s getting old… Bullshit.  He gets around and travels the woods more than most guys in their teens and twenties, myself included.  He shot at more deer than anyone else I know this year too.  He still has issues pulling up on his left is all.  I could go into details but that’s not really the point.

The point is, some screwy eye Doctor doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing and could likely cause someone else to lose their vision too.  A few things just made me realize it’s affected my father more than I originally realized and more than he lets on.

My Father should Sue.

In the meantime, if you see a gray fuzzy spot in your vision, go to the emergency room not the eye doctor!