Things that Jaybird sees

Not long ago Jane Campbell’s bother sent her the below email.  I enjoyed it so much I asked to be able to share it with you. 

Every morning my drive to work is my solitude time. I really enjoy my private time in the mornings to think, reflect, meditate and make plans for the day. I have been this way since I was a little guy.  I am hoping the mornings are just like this when I retire. I just sit back, listed to the radio, and see what I can see. I listed a few things that I have noticed lately. The days are longer and I have just a little morning light when I leave the house.

• Critters are active in the mornings. The rabbits and possums drinking dew off the roadside plants. Turkeys in the fields looking for insects and grain.  The deer grazing, but stopping and lifting their heads and ears as I drive by. I have noticed that when I listed to the bike SPEAKERS as opposed to the helmet speakers, the deer seems to pay more attention. Maybe that would be a good safety practice in the rural areas. I like to watch them run through the big uncut fields where the grass is still 2-3 ft. high. The deer take long graceful leaps and bounds covering the open fields with such ease.
• Most of the horses I see are still sleeping at 6am. The draft horses like to sleep with their noses resting on a fence post. That’s a funny sight to see 4 huge horses all gathered together and trying to rest 4 noses on the same fence post. Just down the road one of the neighbors has some painted ponies and a palomino. Very beautiful.  These are usually grazing in the morning but occasionally I find them sleeping. Most of the time 2-4 are sleeping on the ground and one seems to be standing guard.
• I like to see the steam that rises off the backs of cattle laying on the ground. It’s not so common in the summer, but when the weather turn cool I see this most every day. There is a place where the cattle lay down just inside a fence that’s right next to the road. When the cattle stick their heads through the fence to eat the green grass “On the other side of the fence” I could literally touch their heads. When they lay down at night, and the mornings are cool, I can see the steam rising as I pass by. They just give me a “go to hell look” and keep on chewing their cud. But it is a pretty sight.
• I like to see barns through the morning fog. On my drive in I pass buy several barns and several of those are well off the main road. As I look east, with the predawn light coming through the morning fog, I can see the outlines of the old barns, fences, tractors and wagons and horses and cattle. Its almost like a ghost image or an image in a dream. Sure makes me wish I was a farmer. Life might be simpler. Probably much harder work but simpler.
• For about a mile, my road runs parallel to a little river. No more than 20-30 feet wide, but it is nice to see the moving water every day. There are a few larger boulders that stick out of the water. I use those to gauge the water level every day. In the morning I often see the fog forming on the surface, or a fish rising to feed. And I can usually catch the sight of a crane that’s looking for crawdads, or one that just cruising over the water. Plus the air is cooler right next to the river. Makes for a cool morning commute.
• The spiders are very active now that summer was waxed. The webs, spanning between the barb wire or tall plants, or those that build directly in the grass on the ground, have caught their prey for the night and the morning dew. The early morning sun, and the spider web, seem to me, are a postcard for country living.

I really should stop and catch a few of these with the camera. The next time I write I will tell you about the things I smell.

I loved his thoughts.  Let me know what you think.

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