It was a beautiful Sunday sunny day in secluded Spicewood, TX – the weather was a perfect mere 73 degrees with light wind coming through that kept me from getting too warm, but it also wasn’t too cold. In Spicewood my parents live right on the amazing Lake Travis and also share a fence with Pacebend Park. This puts us in a prime location to be able to enjoy all of the beauty and fun times of being on a lake, but while also getting to experience nature in an up-close way that unfortunately most people don’t get to experience. Since we share a fence with a large nature preserve, we get to delight in observing wildlife daily. On this lovely warm 22nd day of March many different wildlife interactions occurred at my home.
On this day I sat outside with my 4 year old dog, a blue heeler and German shorthaired pointer mix, as can be observed in the photo above. We enjoyed the warm weather and each other’s company. One perk of having a cattle dog mixed with a hunting dog is that he’s extremely alert – this allows me to notice wildlife that would normally be hidden to me. One observed animal was a road runner, I see these often on my family’s property so this didn’t come as a surprise to me. It was wondering from one part of the woods through an open tree line and into another section of the woods. Another species seen were buzzards flying around their prey a little further down the lake. It can be assumed that they were circling a dear, but it is unknown what they found due to the distance.
From my perch by my parent’s pool I could see a few fishing boats down on the lake. These fisherman seemed to be having a lot of success because every time I peered down they were reeling in fish after fish. I’m not sure what kind they were catching,the lake holds trout and catfish so it’s possible it was one of those. As I was enjoying the sunshine my dog wandered the property and returned bringing me a large dear antler.
As the sun began to set it cast a nice light over the beautiful scenery that surrounded me. During this time of the year many wildflowers are beginningto return to life and can be observed all over the property. Most of the flowers are pretty general, but some, such as the Indian Paintbrush, were more attention worthy than the others. The scenery was very green and was definitely a reminder that it’s finally spring time.
I enjoyed my time on the lake that day. I began the day slightly stressed out but after spending a good amount of time relaxing and observing the natural beauty my stress level reclined greatly. I appreciated the calmness of the water and was excited for the time I would be able to spend on the water during the summer. Thinking of this beauty and of the current water shortages that Texas is facing made me think of the part in A Sand County Almanac when Leopold wonders “Perhaps our grandsons, having never seen a wild river, will never miss the chance to set a canoe in singing water.” While this water is a little different than the canoe-water on the Flambeau, it still makes me wonder whether or not this beauty will remain.