My grandparents moved to central Texas in 1954 when my grandfather became a professor at the University of Texas. They immediately bought a nice home on top of a hill on 55 acres. Beautiful place, west of Austin by about twenty miles. Back then, that was way out in the country. I can remember many great Christmas Eves at that house, and other times exploring the hills and woods as a kid.

My dad was a hunter, and he took me out there several times when I was still pretty young. We didn't usually see many deer, probably because of my fidgeting in the stand, but I can remember one time when he took a doe. His stand was at the top of a massive old oak tree that overlooked a pond to the rear of the property.

When I was in my late teens, I began hunting, and I took my first deer at my grandparents' place. When my grandmother passed away in 1982, my uncle, who had majority interest in the property, rented it out for many years. I knew a few of the renters, so I was able to hunt occasionally, and at one point, I did some work on my father's old stand in that oak. Just replaced a few old boards and made sure the thing was still safe. As I got into my twenties and began my career in advertising, I went out there less often, and I didn't know the renters, so I didn't hunt there for many years.

Then, in 1994, my uncle decided to sell the place. It broke my heart to know it would leave the family, and I tried to come up with some scenario in which my wife and I could buy it. But it just wouldn't work. So my uncle sold, and I thought I had set foot on the old homestead for the last time.

Then something unexpected happened. I mailed some old photos to the new owners, thinking they'd enjoy knowing the history of the house, and we ended up becoming good friends. They even offered to let me hunt out there, which, if you're from rural Texas is about as nice a thing as you can offer a guy. You can bet I took them up on it. In fact, I even gave the new owner my old bow, and he took a buck in his first season. I've hunted there every year for about ten years now.

The owners had to leave town this past weekend because of a serious illness in the family, and they asked me to go over there each afternoon and take care of their dog. They think I'm doing them a favor, but really it's the other way around, because I love spending time over there.

Today, I decided to roam the property a bit with their dog, Jacks, and enjoy the beautiful weather. It wasn't long before I decided to go looking for that old deer stand. You have to understand, the place is absolutely thick with trees--thick enough that it can be a chore just to walk ten yards through the cedars--so I wasn't sure I could even find the stand.

Well, I did, but that old oak had died and collapsed many years ago. The rotting remnants of my dad's old deer stand were scattered here and there, with a few planks and support beams still attached to the fallen limbs.

I don't want to get all sappy, but it was a reminder of how quickly things change, and how quickly time passes. It seems like just the other day I was sitting in that stand as a young adult, waiting for a buck to show.

I picked one fairly solid plank and took it home with me, just for a keepsake. I have no way of knowing if it was one of the original boards nailed in place by my father, or one of the boards I used to patch the stand up in the early 80s. But I guess that doesn't really matter, does it?

Please do me a favor and follow this link:

http://gratitudecampaign.org/fullmovie.php

In the comments section, David asked: "When you start to write a book, how do you come up with the general theme? As you write, do all your awesome, crazy, twisted, plot ideas just kinda happen? Or do you know how the story is going to end and have every bit of it planned out?"

First of all, thanks, David, for the word "awesome."

Here's how it usually works for me: Before I start writing a book, I have a general idea of who the major players are and what they are trying to accomplish. I know why they are good or bad. I usually (but not always) have an idea of what the crime is, who committed it, and why. I know how John Marlin will get involved in investigating the crime.

Also....

I generally know how the book will begin and end. If I'm lucky, I'll have some very concrete specifics about the ending. Here's an example....don't read any further unless you want to see a spoiler about Buck Fever...

In Buck Fever, I knew that the climactic scene would take place on Roy Swank's ranch on opening day. I knew that someone would start to field-dress a deer and find drugs. I DIDN'T know exactly how I would arrive at that scene, but I knew I'd get there somehow.

Minor characters are usually invented along the way.

When I pitch a new book to my publisher, it generally takes the form of a three- or four-page synopsis that describes everything above, and maybe just a little more. But not much more. In other words, I don't write any sort of lengthy outline, I just know the general gist of the story and I dive right into, letting it take me to unexpected places as I drive toward the conclusion.

Thanks for the question, David.

I own a small cabin in the country in Blanco County. One of my neighbors recently sent me the photo below, from one of the automatic cameras set up at his deer feeder. Pretty cool, huh? I've spent countless hours watching wildlife in this area, and I've never seen a bobcat. As far as I know, neither has anybody else, at least not recently. That's one of the reasons they are successful predators. They move at night, and they are very stealthy. They steer clear of humans. But they can't escape this sneaky camera!