Saturday, September 17, 9:35 AM. Garrett.

We went hunting yesterday and I killed a squirrel. Dad tried to shoot birds but he missed them all the time. Trevor didn’t hit anything either, except he almost hit my leg when his gun slipped. It’s hard for him to hold it with his cast. He rests it in a tree when he can and aims pretty well then. Dad’s not sure if we should take him again though. It was pretty scary.

We had to clean the squirrel and it was gross. It makes you think about animals in a whole new way. It was pretty much a bag of skin around some muscle holding in a few guts. We gave the guts and bones to the dogs and they were crazy happy. We made a stew with the meat for supper last night. Dad and I made it because Mom didn’t want to touch it. The stew was pretty good. Everybody tried it. It’s been a long time since we had real meat. Even Mom said it was okay and if we brought more she would try cooking it. We’re really tired of Spam and tuna and canned chicken.

We checked the trail cams yesterday. We saw some squirrels and hogs come to the feeders but no deer.

It’s raining this morning like crazy. We have to do a lot of chores even when it’s raining. We feed the dogs and cows and horses. We spend time with the horses to help them feel at home. Claire and Trevor like to do that. We check the propane to see how much is left. Sometimes we check the water filter and pump to make sure they are running okay, but this morning it was so wet that Dad said we didn’t have to.

I like the sound of rain on the roof. It’s pretty loud in my room because I’m on the top floor. There’s some thunder.