It is my husband’s favorite holiday—the opening weekend of deer season. Truthfully, it is the kickoff to the holiday season for my family. Thanksgiving, the kickoff holiday for most people, has turned into another deer camp event, but with a really, really nice meal or two included. This plan is convenient for me in that it spurs me to get my Christmas shopping done very early.Opening weekend has grown and grown over the years. For many years now, we have been blessed to have a trio of lease hunters who have come to seem like family to us. Dave is a firefighter, Larry is a structural engineer, and Keith is a science teacher. They are all married and have children—and now two of them have grandchildren. For the past several years, opening weekend has brought the hunters’ families to our ranch. Dave’s two daughters, the husband of one daughter, and the two granddaughters, and sometimes Dave’s wife, Vicki, pack a travel trailer. Larry’s son, Dillon, now drives himself over from Burnt Orange Land. Keith’s son, Josh, used to attend, then he brought a girl one year, then he married the girl, and now he is too busy with his own life. Besides our hunters, some of the cousins who own the other half of the ranch attend opening weekend every year. Mark Clark is the oldest son of Marie Carolyn Ledbetter Clark, who many of you remember from school. He brings his wife, two sons, and one daughter—and many times other extended family or friends. Our friends Charley and Earleen Brister, have brought their travel palace, I mean trailer, and joined the festivities for several years. Now that our daughter is away at college, she returns, usually bringing at least one friend for indoctrination into our opening weekend traditions.As with most holidays, food figures prominently into opening weekend. For the last several years, we have at least one huge community meal. Charley and Earleen love to fish, and Larry fishes all over the world as he travels with his job, so fish fries are a popular choice. I like it because it can all be done outside! Other deer camp favorites are tacos, chicken fried assorted game meats, steaks, pancakes, chili (of course), stew (of course), and smoked sausage wrapped in flour tortillas—called Taco Polackos in a place I once lived.Campfires are a must. Even if the weather is a tad too warm, a campfire will be built and sat around. Stories will be told, people will be picked at, and laughter will abound. Dogs are also a must. Dogs are there to clean up any dropped food, to be petted, and to draw away any remaining stress that an attendee may be harboring.In an election year, we tend to point fingers at others and apply harsh labels to people not like ourselves. Our nation’s population is around eighty percent urban now, and most of those have never experienced the reality of hunting and of the deer camp. My husband is at a deer camp in South Texas right now with two amputee veterans, introducing them to deer camp life. A PTSD counselor told me that no amount of counseling sessions can do what one weekend at a deer camp can do for these wounded soldiers. I am pretty sure we would all be better off if we all could have an opening weekend experience once a year. SpringCreekArtsGuild@gmail.com