Not Santa's Reindeer

We went back to Bass Pro shops on Sunday because J needed a firearm license to shoot on a range, and I needed gloves. The wait time for the license is now 2-3 months, which didn't bother J, and we picked up the paperwork and went off to see what Christmas displays Bass Pro had put up. We were not disappointed. Where the Boat World section use to be, it was now Santaland, complete with a deer carousel, a nerf gun shooting range for plastic ducks and a laser gun range for animated deer, and Santa himself, ready for Christmas wishes for things that go bang.

I could see some awkward conversations with children about the taxidermy deer heads, as the kids would worry that it was Santa's crew decorating the walls. I would hope that the parents already had hunting and fishing as part of the culture at home before they brought very small children. On the other hand, children are practical. When I lived in Idaho, my next-door neighbor would use the kid's swing set on the front lawn to hang the deer he had poached to skin and clean them, and the kids would help. The kids had a complete understanding of where dinner came from, and the neighbors had no issue about it either--everyone hunted and fished for food, since money was tight.

There were new fish in the fish tank too, including this Long-Nosed Gar. I just wish it wasn't such a blurry photo--he was BIG.