Behind the Lines: by David Heiller

David Heiller So far, so good with the Great Deer Experiment. It started last year, when some deer discovered our garden. We live in the country, and have always raised a big garden. For some reason the deer never bothered it. Lots of garden for the enemy. Until last summer. Then 19 years of pent-up hunger was unleashed. They ate corn, peas, beans, vine crops, and hollyhocks. They were particularly fond of the delphiniums. They would come in the middle of the night, when the dog was in the house. Many times I would step out of the house at about 6 a.m. and chase them from the garden. It was sickening to watch the garden disappear day-by-day. I figured something had to be done for this year. Then as usual I forgot about it. This spring, as I labored with love on the new garden, I wondered how to keep those pesky deer from repeating their new-found habits. (Pesky is not the word I normally use in describing the deer, but it works for this column.) Then about three weeks a...

David Heiller A friend of mine has been telling me about his kids and fishing lately. “They’re crazy about it,” he said at the Redwood (café) the other noon. “All they want to do is fish.” “So you’ve got to take them;” I said. Malika and Noah after a fishing trip in Brownsville.  Their daddy made sure they got  LOTS of opportunities to fish. (1989-ish) “Yeah;” he replied. He didn’t sound too upset about that. He had been 12 once too. Sometimes his wife will take them to a spot and leave them all day. The kids are in heaven, and their parents are too, I would wager. Most of us adults have been there. In fact, some of us have never left. Fishing Fever. It’s like a mini-season in Minnesota, and we are in the midst of it right now. Looking forward to a trip to the river, checking the sky for rain clouds, sloshing on the mosquito repellent. Those are the happy symptoms. Then getting to the water. Soaking in the quiet. Finding that favorite spot and it’s empty ...