The Life of the Wild

 

Deer are plentiful in the evening and fun to look at  as they browse on the grasses.  They also a desired by predators and they make an evening meal for numerous critters.  They also become road kill when they get close to the highways and try to cross.

They are a curious animal, standing there staring at the two legged creature snapping pictures.  They are also mesmerized by headlights at night and blinded.   A combination that is very deadly.  There is a stretch of highway west of here that I see a dead one along side the road almost weekly.  The herd lives on though, it is but part of the process.

 

Quietly they munch away on their evening meal. glancing back at the stranger.  Life and death wages on in the wild.  Where it comes from, when will it happen….. is but s moment of fear that flies into adversity.

Being atop of the food chain it is a fear I know not.  My cognitive reasoning carries me through dangerous moments.  A separation that carries very little understanding.

 

May God be your companion this week.

Main Street

 

Small Town America has its main street and each is unique yet very similar.  Building style in the Americas was brought from Europe and as the people moved west they brought what they were familiar with.

The highway would divide the town and usually there was some railroad tracks next to the road.  With the changes in style and moving to the burbs, style has changed.  In the old neighborhoods of the city and out in the small towns the simple style can still be  seen.  There are no sleek and shiny buildings in these place, well usually.

Main street is maybe the highway or it is a cross street to the highway.  Sometimes main street would be built around a town square, here the roads intersected and there would be a bandstand in the middle.

In my roaming I go through many small rural towns.  Time permitting I stop and take a few pictures of Main Street.

The old hotels that are still standing are rare catches and made for interesting architecture.  Pause and imagine the business that was transacted in the lobbies of these grand old buildings.  Here is where the traveling peddler would stay.  These small towns were important to him. 

Nearby would be his customers, the clothing shop, hardware store, drug store or maybe the bank.  I would love to have the wall of these old buildings talk to me.

Some have moved to these small towns and bought the old empty stores and made them into nice homes.  Put some sweat equity into them.

Journey down the back roads, what is the next cross road reveal.  Is there another adventure awaiting.

Hope you are having a great week.  Winter is knocking on the door here.  Below freezing and snow in the mountains.

Threshers Day….. V Draft Horses

 

The monster horse, does not pull the beer wagon, it pulls the plow and other equipment.  Draft horses are monster horses, they will come close to weighing in at a ton, 1500-1900 pounds.  15 hands tall to big ones over 18 hands.  The average horse is 11-12 hands, 1000 to 1100 pounds.  It is amazing to watch these big brutes work.  They are so gentle and easy to be around.

As I watched them work, it was not easy for the horses to plod over the dirt clods.  They would stumble at times but they maintained their balance.  At a nice even pace they walked the field.

 

I finally got this young lady to pose for me.  She is not a small person but she is dwarfed next to the horse.

As one hooks up the the buggy another keeps the horses still so they do not walk away from the tongue.  Working behind horses is a tricky business and many do not do.  Yet these handlers worked with ease behind their horses.

There were different horses there and there was a set of mules there.

Surprisingly the mule will out work the big horses.  Their stamina is longer and they don’t need the rest like a horse does.  They also tend to be stronger then a horse.  After the oxen the mule was the next preferred beast of burden for plowing or hauling wagons.  The horse is the glamour animal, the worker is the mule.

What was neat to watch was this little girl.  She appeared to be about 12 years old.  She was guiding these big horses around with ease.  A jiggle of the reins, a clicking of the tongue and the animals moved at her command.  It might of been an older brother and little sister, because he was walking with her and talking to her and the horses.  Around the yard they went.

To look over the backs of these animals, one has to be about 6’6” or get a ladder to stand on.

Have a good week.

The creepy mania of politics

 

Another blogger directed me top another blogger in Wisconsin.   She is a law professor at the university in Madison, the state capital.  She has written about the protests and the associated antics of the left wing losers.  Very little about the right wing for they do not protest that much.  She has been pretty neutral and presented things fairly objective.

 

One of the incidents after the democrats lost the election there was the alleged incident of one supreme court justice trying to choke another court justice.  Apparently the incident did not happen.  It was a case of one trying to protect themselves and the other distorting the truth to gain control of such.

Yet this incident has become a microcosm of the left wing progressive distortion and being sore losers.  Watching the taunts the protestors hurled at the right wing winners was sad.  Yet they, like the supreme court justice made false accusations to try and control the situation in which they lost.

So my question is….. are Democrats becoming liars, half truths, innuendo and distortions to further their agenda.  Where has the Democrat gone that used to be above board and accepted defeat and went on to the next battle.  Puffery is fairly common in politics but where has it descended to in the Democratic party.  Why have they became such sore losers, why do they want control so much.  Why are they not accepting of ideas different from theirs.  What happened to the Democratic party I used to vote for.

In this incident a whole can of worms is now crawling around.  Are the conservative Democrats going to continue to let the progressive Democrats control what used to be a noble political party.

 

Well… so much for my soap box and two cents worth.

 

Have a good week.

Summer Poesies

Every Summer I put out petunias and other flowers in planters.  They get fed, watered and pruned through out the summer.  This year they grew out of the planters.  I put some moss roses in with them and they almost took over.  In among the roses are the petunias.  This year has been one of my best for flowers in the planters.

 

Have a great week and I hope you had a great weekend.

Nature’s Way

 

 

Scrambling through ditches and pastures I stumble across things that fit or how’d that get there.

 

 

 

The wind gathers the seeds up and deposits them in among the grasses n weeds.  Jewels to sparkle in the green surrounds.  The beds of flowers and planters spread their bounty on the wind, finding  new places to set roots down.

Tromping among the stickers and thorns these damsels thrive, making a beauty.  Pausing for a moment, enjoy the reward, saying thanks to the ways of nature.

Along with the beauty are the ravenous monsters.  They eat each other and devour fields.  They can become so thick that the ground moves, sun light fades when they fly in hoards. The grasshopper is related to the locust and like the locust, grasshoppers can strip plants into the ground.

It is amazing anything lives after these little monsters have passed by.  There is a plan for destruction, nature renews itself, even in spite of man’s attempts to the contrary.  One of the reasons I question the greenies cry of wolf on the global warming issue.

Nature has a balance and will make changes to keep that balance… In spite of the human meddling.  We can help… but destroy………..

Not By Design

 

There are things in life that happen by planning and then there are things that occur by chance.  Working by design takes lots of effort and planning, it is also very rewarding.  Those that happen by chance are a deep pleasure, make a warm fuzzy feely moment. 

I enjoy photography and in particular railroad photography.  While back I was setting up to take some train pictures and I disturbed a four legged critter’s sleep.

 

I was walking along an overpass to catch the train [passing below and up from under the bridge popped this youngster.  I was startled but gathered myself together to get the camera up for some pictures.  He paused and stared back at me.

This went on for sometime.  One step forward, click of the shutter, pause and look back. The train was setting back in town still not moving so I just sat there and watched him. 

He is a youngster, not big enough to challenge the old bucks for the herd domain.  By himself he roams the grassland.  Sometimes these young bucks travel together but until they get some does they are loners..

White tails are not common around here, we get mostly mulies.  Mule deer are native to the area.  Like the white tail, the mulies are being forced to find new land to roam.  Deer were far and few far between on the plains but that is changing as development forces them out of their homes...

Eventually he moved on down the hill to open field.  He will find a small harem, become feed for a predator or possibly a trophy for the great white hunter.  In the meantime I appreciated the moment of encounter.

Oh and the train… it went into reverse and I gave up waiting for it..

Time Marches

The weekend has arrived.  Time to take care of the chores, relax some or go out and play.  There is rain and the green stuff  grows and some of the unwanted green things have to be removed to find the other green things.  Some where over there under the mat is a grill….. hmmm… maybe should use it a little more  often.

Grilled brauts and a beer,  for me good weekend dining.  Let others indulge in the flank pieces of meat.  Put some relish, chopped green onion and brown mustard on and I’m happy.  The garden is putting out lettuce so will have a salad.  Sit in the little courtyard, hope the mosquitos are not hungry.  Watch the sun set, clouds pass over and change colors.

The weekend brings many adventures, sometimes no further then the yard.  Birds flit around, flowers wave in the breeze, trees make shade and good food.  It is time to savor the march of time, pause to listen to the rhythm.

 

 

Whatever you chose for the weekend may God bless you in your endeavors.

Have a great one.

Smoke In Your Eyes

With fires comes the smoke and haze.  Forest firs and range fires unleash clouds of smoke that cover miles and miles of the sky.  If it is big enough fire the smoke will circle the globe.  The smoke is irritating and causes respiratory problems for a few. 

The smoky haze to make for some spectacular sunsets and sunrises and the moon also if it is in the right place in the sky.  A crimson, orange, rose orb hangs on the horizon.

The effects can be spectacular and it can be damming.

With the forest fires and wild fires I have not heard of “Greenies” volunteering to go out and help fight these fires.  Yet they sure love to complain about the carbon being released into the atmosphere.

Makes me stop and wonder, wildfires have been around for centuries and they would burn unabated.  Putting out wildfires a century ago was not a priority.  They would burn till they ran out of fuel or rain/snowfall quenched the flames.

These are big fires but compared to the wildfires of over a century ago they are minuscule.  Wonder how much carbon those fires that burned for months were putting out.

The global warming people do not mention things like this.  they have become arrogant to the point that they just dismiss facts and go on their way.  Even when they are caught in a blatant lie, the greenies go on crying wolf.

So my question….. Is man so stupid he can not take care of himself if there are changes?  Will man be so stupid to stay on the beach and be drowned when the ice melts?

The “greenies” make lots of assumptions based on man being stupid or they are the only ones with smarts to solve the problems of the world climate change.

There are so many un answered points and such a geological record pointing other directions.

Oh…… The “greenies” tend to be Darwinian's.  Therefore man will evolve around all of the global warming, if they really accept the “Theory of Evolution.”  <Man can not be a god and be an evolutionist at the same time… look at the conflict.

There are so many holes that their statements look like a strainer.

Go to High School Science and read about Photosynthesis.

 

Grab the camera and catch some shots of the sun through the haze, natural or otherwise.

 

Random Quinks

Thoughts from here and there or whatever happened to fall out of the noggin n gray matter.

The fires in Arizona and New Mexico are sharing their smoke with us.  In the mornings the breeze is from the north and it is kind of clear.  As the sun rolls over the wind rolls around to the SW and here comes the smoky haze.

Last night there were pretty good whiffs of burning wood.  As the night settles down the wind calms.  In the morning it is kind of clear.  The haze makes for some interesting sun spots. 

Get lots of complaints from people with respiratory problems, self included.  The smoke effects my allergies and sinus.  I would of not been a good fighter of fires.

Living in the country is a life many dream of but few do.  There is a different lifestyle.  Stores are not close by and medical is further, neighbors are not down the block and nature is the at the step.

 

 

this farm house is fairly well isolated,  couple miles to the nearest neighbor.  It can be lonely at times out in the outback of the prairie.  Here life has a pace of nature.  the seasons change and life changes. 

Civilization is creeping in the country life.    the latest gadgets in the kitchen, monster tractor in the field, slick new pick up to chase the cows and giant windmills.

 

What had once been a far ranging vista is now becoming cluttered with giant three handed machines, 

The landscape is changing yet this same area is also dotted with missile silos.  The giant three handed monsters will be well protected in case of invasion by ET’s relatives.

 

                        ………………………………………………………………………..

 

Ya know what I would like to see….. Congress go back to two sessions, each one 90 days or less, per year.  the end of the session…. every one go home, no more new laws, no more gabbing about nuttin and maybe some peace for the home folks.

 

 

A Bit of Sun and Leaves

It has not gotten warm enough around here for the leaves on the trees to fully fill out.  It is till early spring for the higher elevations of the plains.  Here is a cottonwood still in early spring stage.  The leaves are still translucent and the cotton buds are forming.  With some more sun and warmth the seed pods will open and the air will fill with cotton.

 

 

With some backlighting and a clear blue azure sky, the young cottonwood leaves set off nicely against the sky.

The weekend is over, a new week begins.  The travels of life continues.

Have a great week.