A Time Inside Self

Fall, a time of renewal, shed the old and get ready for the new. The prairie goes to sleep like other parts of nature does for the winter. We have been so dry here lately that the grass went dormant last month. The only green is along the cricks. Like a green ribbon the cottonwoods wave above the blueish, gray brown grass. As the grasses go dormant they begin to shed their seeds to get ready for moisture of spring. It also provides food for the critters that hang out in the wintertime, seeds for the birds n gophers and grass for the browsers. Nature has developed a nice system to sustain life on a land that most see as vacant.
Look out across the picture and see a land that supports hundreds of bird species, a large variety of mammals and thousands of insects. There are ranch homes in the trees, a small town next to the trees on the left and in the far corner is another small town, about 15 miles away. There is a white building in the upper left hand corner and it sets almost a thousand feet higher then where I am standing.
Here one can feel a freedom that is missed in the hustle of the big city. Open land to the eyes end. A gaze to the horizon without interruption. the big city has freedom but as I look out over the skyline I see house after house surrounding large buildings and structures.
With the birds my mind can soar, beside the antelope I can roam or I can just sit and watch nature's creation.







Walking in the sand creek the dogs have a good time sniffing things out as they flit all over the place. This day the sun was out and they were a little warm. Tongues hanging out and the Scooter looks like he is trying to get some shade from the blade of grass. It is so nice to get out like this and let them be. They don't run off and if a rabbit jumps up they will let it go if I holler at them. If a deer jumps up they stand there and look at it. So down the crick we go strolling.




There comes a time to pack up the dogs and head out the front door. Sunday was that day. There were a few things east of town I wanted to check on, so off into the wilderness.
One of the things I like to do is take pictures of trees, especially this time of year through winter. The patterns of the branches on the sky created an ethereal appearance at times. Out where I was going the road crosses the sand creek and i can walk up stream a couple hundred yards. Each time I do there something just a bit different. Nature's canvas is ever changing and always great. My pictures do not always capture that.




Hope your week is progressing and life is treating you well.