Day one: I left the house a little after 6AM, the earliest I'd been out the door since my bagle-mongering days. Mortified at the idea of being late on my first day, I imagined the teacher- a sturdy and stoic army vet- towering over me and shaming me in front of the other students who would most likely all be guys. I took a wrong turn and panick began to set in as I raced down the dark roads and finally pulled up to the school. Oddly enough, there were no other cars in the parking lot. I walked in to discover that not only was I early (class didn't begin until 7:30; I'd had 7am in my head) but there would only be one other student-a female! Cripes. I got my pathetic little frozen squirrel out of my bag and put it in the freezer just as the other student arrived with two enormous deer heads, a doe and a 7 point buck. To say I felt inferior would be a slight understatement.
After a brief tour, Mr. B put us right to work fleshing out some deer capes and he taught us how to split lips and noses, and turn ears. I took to it quickly, and was even told that I got an a+ for the day. My insecurity faded. Later he gave us a demo on skinning and mounting a pheasant, from A to Z. I took notes furiously, and drove home to crawl into bed. I dreamt that I ran a race and won. Not just 1st place in my age category, or first female to cross, but WON. The WHOLE DAMNED THING.
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