Hearing shots by teal hunters on the back pond Friday, I recalled the duck season I grew a beard to cut down glare on my face in the blind.

It really did no good. The ducks seemed to flare as much as always when I looked up.

Looking back, I guess the beard did nothing to cut light reflection off my glasses. Duh!

Duck hunting indeed is a widespread disease in our part of the world.

Though it’s been years since I did it, I still have the symptoms every time a fresh flight wings into the area in fall and winter.

When those symptoms get almost insufferable, I set the alarm for 3 a.m., get up, put on socks and stuff ice cubes into them.

That antidote works every time.

Jim Butler, a Bolton High School alumnus, was an acclaimed writer and editor at the Alexandria Town Talk for 36 years, the last 23 (1977-2003) as editor-in-chief. He led Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina for the Gulfport (Miss.) Sun-Herald in 2005. Butler returned home to Cenla a few years ago, and shares his talents and insight with Rapides Parish Journal readers.