Two or three times a year, like clockwork, my Dad would take a weekend hunting trip in the foothills.
He never went with his buddies, always alone.
He never came back with any meat, but that’s because Mom said that Dad wasn’t entirely hunting, he was just relaxing. This made me all the more curious about what Dad did out in the woods! When I was 16 the mystery was solved, when Dad asked me to come with him on one of his trips. To say I was happy doesn’t quite cover it, I was giddy with anticipation… Deep in the woods was an outdated hunting shack, one with new amenities including electricity, a/c, and running water. This far deep in the woods there were no power lines, of course, so the shack was outfitted with a small power generator. This gave more than enough juice to light up the lodge, and power the combination space heating system and a/c inside of it! Because of the big swings in temperature throughout the year, the shack needed a small but powerful device that could give both heating and cooling as needed. It was small, but it was strong, and required entirely little power for the amount of heating it generated! Dad explained to me that he never went hunting, and didn’t like shooting creatures, he just came to care about the peace and solitude in the climate controlled hunting shack. All both of us did for the weekend was play cards and drink beer, while the space heating system kept us comfy, and country songs played on the stereo.