When you imagine a gathering of the Jenum family, you are sure to have visions of obnoxious behavior, rowdy parties, and general debauchery. We are one, wild bunch!
OK – that’s not the least bit true.
An actual “wild” Jenum weekend would include tremendous food, often with ingredients that some folk might find offensive – like elk, pheasant, venison, wild rice, and various Norwegian concoctions. The weekend would also include a lot of smart banter and uproarious laughter (although not TOO loud). But mostly, it would include the tradition and joy of spending time together.
For those of you readers not from the upper Midwest, this weekend in Minnesota was “Deer Opener”. The Jenums merely use it as an excuse to gather in a common location and share a little of each others’ lives. The actual activity of hunting is a minor constituent of the whole event – rooted in sharing it with loved ones.
But, it is still deer hunting – after all – and brings us all back to the Jenum farm homestead in Barsness Township within Pope County, Minnesota. We all know every bump, every tree, every square foot of that land and relish in the chance to revisit old memories and maybe create some new ones.
Even though I have long hung-up my personal hunting ambitions, I am still passionate about photography. Thus, I got up early on Saturday morning and headed out with the Jenum men (young and old) to see if we could get us some meat for next year’s “Wild Game Feed”.
Enjoy.
