Deer season was always a fun time to be at grandma and grandpa Peterman’s farm. My father loved to hunt and so did my grandmother’s brother, Uncle Raymond.

Uncle Raymond was one of the more interesting people in the family and was an excellent story teller. Every year, he had something happen in the woods that caused him to miss shooting the trophy buck with giant antlers. Usually, he had forgotten to put shells in his gun, or had the clip out playing with it or there was something nearby that would have been in danger if he had shot. There was always something that let the big one get away.

Grandma and grandpa Peterman lived in an old 2 story house.
Grandma and grandpa slept downstairs, but everyone else slept in one of the two bedrooms upstairs. The house was heated with wood, but the upstairs was super cold in the winter and extremely hot in the summer.

During deer season, I would sleep in the big feather bed piled high with quilts. I would wake up early and wait to hear my grandmother moving around the kitchen before I left my warm bed.

Every morning my grandmother would fire up the wood stove that sat in the corner of the kitchen and make a big breakfast for the hunters. Her biscuits, made with lard, were delicious.

I would look forward to being her helper and watching her cut biscuits using a glass and put the biscuits in a granite pan.

The warmth of the wood stove and family gathered around telling stories and enjoying time with each other are memories that I treasure.

So many loved ones have passed, but the wonderful memories remain.