John's Moment

Had a doctor's appointment the other day at a nearby town. On the way home I took my time looking at things and taking a few pictures. There is a small lake that I stopped at for a brief moment. On the prairie water holes are few and far between so I took advantage of this one.

It was a quiet mid day and the breeze was light, ruffling the water slightly in the small cove. I had my fishing stuff with me so I trotted out to the shore. Tackle was rigged, hooks baited and chair positioned. Into the water went the rig, pole is set in a branch and me carcass settled into the chair.

Breezes swirl over the water, leaves float to the ground or into the water, birds flit in the tree branches, frogs hop in the water and the fish make small circles. It was a great day to be by the water. Sitting there enjoying God's creation. A brief moment where I am still and can listen to the silence, feel the breath of creation envelope me.

If I catch a fish, okay, sitting there and watching the day pass was a recharging. The dogs sniffed around then lay by the chair, butterflies float past, ducks bob on the water and a falcon circles high overhead searching. I dig out the MP-3 and turn on some music, contentment rolls over my soul, here is a moment I can but try to recreate. A moment the grey matter will store, the memories will be another reality but this moment I savor.

The days journey took me other places along the back roads of the countryside. There are small towns dwindling into obscurity, giant wind farms setting idle, farmers harvesting and drilling and people traveling about in their daily life.

I expected to see the windmills turning but with a low breeze they were but monuments to dreams. Without wind they are worthless and when there is wind they have to have a demand for the electricity. Right now the price of wind electricity is to high and the utility companies will buy their power from the cheapest source. The windmills are good ideas but are very expensive and are probably ahead of their time.

The country roads were dusty. One could see the vehicles from miles because the cloud of dust raised. We haven't had much rain since July, less then an inch. Fine powdery dust floats in the air creating a haze. A the farmer rolls across his fields the dust floats into the air. A reminder of how delicate our balance on the prairie is.

The dust bowl combined with the depression dealt a death blow to many small towns. Some cling to a thin straw but many are on the last throes of demise. There are many old building that set vacant and are falling apart. they make for some great pictures and views of back to the past. There are old machines and rusting hulks of metal.

Speaking of pictures, Google has what they call Picasa web albums. I have been using Picasa for some time to post some of my train pictures and grain elevators. When I began blogging on blogger another album was opened for my blog pictures on here. I went and viewed them and the hit counter in some instances has been higher then for my blogs. So why are people checking out my pictures more then my blogs..... a question I have no answer for.

I also have some pictures on Photobucket and they had been stagnant for some time and all of sudden I am getting bunches of hits. Life has its quirks.