Yes, I recognized her after she handed me the pictures. I own the house I grew up in and she's always been my neighbor (she lives two houses up the street from mine). Despite knowing her my whole life, I've never known her well because she usually stayed in her house and always seemed standoffish to me. It's her husband who I know well, because when I was a kid he was outside a lot, working on his motorcycle and lawnmower, and target practicing with his bow and arrow, and I'd always stop and talk to him when I saw him outside when I was a kid. He took me hunting and fishing quite a few times, and he's the one who took the pictures (and Elmer was his dog).
He was in the car with her (front passenger seat) when she stopped, but I didn't see him at first. I also suspect that he has age-related mental deterioration at this point (such as Alzheimer's), because he looked kind of dazed and didn't say anything at all to me, which is completely out of character for him. The last time I saw/spoke to him was in 2020 and he was his usual self then, but a lot can change in 4 years. He's now 87 years old and she's 83. She seemed perfectly fine though and actually looks quite a bit younger than her age. If I didn't know better I would guess she was about 70. She was beautiful when I was a kid, and so was her daughter, who looked just like her.
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GlenEllyn (21526)
6 months ago
Quite the story. I like hearing stories like this. Thanks for sharing.
Archery, huh? My dad was an archer. At one time, he owned his own archery range. I think carp-shooting was his favorite outdoor activity because it got him out on the water, and of course, archery was his favorite hobby.
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MaximRecoil (4618)
6 months ago
Yeah, he was an avid hunter (and fisherman). He even hunted red deer in Africa one time. Here in Maine, and probably in other states too, there's a separate archery season for hunting deer, so you can get an extended deer hunting season if you're an archer:
https://www.maine.gov/ifw/hunting-trapping/hunting/laws-rules/season-dates-bag-limits.html
He rarely, if ever, failed to get his deer each year.
He used to target practice with his bow while standing on the roof of his house with the target being on his lawn, to simulate being in a tree stand. Point of aim relative to where the arrow hits is different when a high-to-low angle is involved, so that helped him prepare for archery season.
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GlenEllyn (21526)
5 months ago
Minnesota has the same rules for deer season - one season for gun hunters, and one for bowhunters. My dad went deer hunting every year, no matter what the weather. He didn't use a tree stand. He preferred what he called "drive-hunting." He and his hunting partners would walk through the woods to drive out the deer. No, he didn't get a deer every year, but he got one often enough to satisfy him. Both my sons went on plenty of hunting trips with him.
He also modified his fishing boat, adding a stand so he could get a better angle for shooting carp.
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