Sept. 8
It was a cool Sunday morning, up bright and early to go dove hunting at a friend of my dads ranch. The ranch is called Paleface. The morning air is cool and refreshing, we hike through the brush looking for the flight of a dove. I constantly hear the songs of dozens of different types of birds. Every once in a while I hear the loud blast of a shotgun. It is very pleasant walking amongst the trees this early in the morning. Difficult to wake up but well worth it. It is almost perfect except for the constant noise of traffic passing by on a nearby freeway. We come across a pond that is completely dried up from the dry Texas Summer, this area is where we see the most dove. We are lucky this morning, there is an overcast and the clouds block out the sun, without them we would be hot and miserable. Although this trip is noisy with the sounds of gunshots and traffic, it was a great walk through nature.
Sept. 22
It’s a beautiful Sunday morning and I have returned to the ranch. Its the first weekend of Fall, the weather is cool, crisp, and clear, not a cloud in the sky. The moon is still looming overhead from the night before. Although I am far away I can still hear cars in the distance. Rather than hunting this time I am sitting by a deer blind on a hill overlooking a grass opening with several trees behind. I am sitting quietly hoping I will see some deer or even some turkeys. I have a great view and can see several buildings and power lines in the distance. The air is very nice, I can really breathe out here. Birds seem to be everywhere, I can’t see them but I can here them chirping and screeching away. A beetle scuttles past where I am sitting, black and shiny in the sunlight. A grasshopper is also sitting by me. He blends in perfectly with the rocks behind he sits on, if I look away I almost lose his location. There are plenty of flowers near me, and I notice a bee buzzing by pollinating the flowers. Here I am looking afar, when it seems their is plenty of life within a foot of where I am sitting.