Frozen Stuff

Grinding Deer Meat In The Kitchen

All this cold reminds me of the time that winter came early and froze the three deer that we had hanging in the shed.   At that time all seven of us lived in a 900 square foot house with one bathroom.   I went to work that morning and returned home that night to find three (3) - buck deer complete with heads and midsized racks (horns) - lying on my living room floor to flaw.  The living room measured 12 feet by 16 feet at the most.    The heads and horns of the deer were right in the walk path from the front door to the rest of the house.  Not over in the corner.  Not off to the side.   Not out of the way.  These deer were in the only walk space left in the room; the path from the front door to the dining room, rest of the stinking house, door.

I wondered in to the kitchen and asked my husband, “What’s up with the deer on the floor?”    To which he replied in slow deliberate speech like he was talking to an old person that could not hear well, “.....  (He took a big breath - then let his head drop down like Magnum PI then back up and began to speak)  T h e y   a r e   f r o z e n.    I   a m  t h a w i n g   t h e m   o u t   s o   t h a t   I  c a n   c u t   t h e m   u p.  .  .   s o   t h a t   w e   h a v e   f o o d    t  o    e a t”     After all they were laying on a heavy duty, blue, vinyl tarp.  What could possibly be the problem!   What planet was I from anyway?  Didn’t I want to eat this winter?

Now when a person has seven people in their family (six boys and one girl) a person is concerned about putting meat on the table.  Drawing tags, hunting, and getting three deer was good news and it meant meat for the next few months.     In order to eat said meat it would be thawed, butchered, ground into hamburger, packaged, and placed in the freezer.    OK, OK – I see that it is important and a good idea.

So as he was explaining and I was listening I took off my coat, put down my bags, untied my shoes, took off my socks and then remembered I had left another bag by the front door so I went to retrieve it.   Yes, you guessed it, back over the top of the frozen deer obstacle course that was in the way/on the way to my isolated bag by the front door.    When my right foot – my big toe – grazed and caught one of the deer’s horns.  The horn slipped perfectly between the nail and the toe and it popped the toenail off of my toe just like an old fashion bottle opener takes off a bottle cap from a old fashion Coke bottle.   

Wisely - no one talked to me the rest of the night and probably the next day too.