Okay, it’s a deer-hunting stand, according to my brother John.

He took the initiative to design and build it, and Paula and I helped out at the end when he and Dad were tired from working all day in the sun. (We still need to put a railing on the top and secure the ladder.) And we’re glad there will be the possibility of more venison this fall.

But I see the stand as a meditation tower, a fine platform on which to sit and feel the wind blowing up the hill, feel the sun on your face, just to sit and be for a while, to relax, and contemplate things, or not contemplate things.

I suppose that’s what hunting is to many people. A meditation, a time to be out in nature.