17 or so deer...three crows...two hawks...
Let’s start this week with a bit of a combination of an observation and a question: The Other Half says she has seen more fireflies this year...like lots and lots more...a similar observation was shared with this writer by a fellow traveler on The Journey Through Life. The question: Have folks seen more fireflies this year? Just wondering.
Meanwhile...
“I’ve got a date with an angel...”
The bluegrass song playing on the car radio at about 8 o’clock last Saturday night sounded just right...
I said something about the song to my date...she just laughed...
Been a while since I shared some of our latest pandemic date adventures...mainly because we hadn’t really been on a pandemic date for a while. Based on what we are seeing and hearing, we figure we’ll probably get a chance to go on a few more pandemic dates...
Saturday evening was pretty nice for July...not too hot...not too humid...so we decided to hit the road. I was hoping that in the cool of evening, we might actually see some Southern Illinois wildlife. We were not disappointed. Just didn’t see a partridge in a pear tree. (Just wondering: are there partridge birds in Southern Illinois?)
Our sound track for Saturday evening featured folk music...and the sweet sounds of bluegrass tunes...courtesy of the public radio station at Southeast Missouri State University over there across the river.
We began our journey by heading west on Mountain Glen Road, then motored south on Illinois Route 127 to the State Forest Road. Took the State Forest Road west to metropolitan Wolf Lake, where Saturday evening seemed to be pretty quiet.
We journeyed north on Illinois Route 3...the Great River Road...to the Big Muddy River...stopped...took a few pics...turned around and headed back in a southerly sort of direction.
Our adventure took us to the Union County State Fish and Wildlife Area, also known as “the Refuge” to many of us in this corner the world. While motoring along the Refuge Road, I caught a glimpse of a critter which appeared to be out for a nice, leisurely stroll on a Saturday evening. Turned out to be a raccoon.
From the Refuge, we traveled along Illinois Route 146 to the Clear Creek Levee Road...back to the State Forest Road...and headed home. Arrived at our humble abode just as the dark was setting in for a summer night in Union County. The bangs and booms and crackles of Independence Day fireworks were starting to be heard...
My date for the evening...and for the past few years or so, was kind enough to keep track of the various critters and creatures we saw during our journey. The tally included:
6 plus 5 plus 1 plus 4 plus 1 white-tailed deer. Three crows. A raccoon. Two mourning doves. A woodchuck. Two hawks. An armadillo (existing in the past tense). A number of swallows. A black dog. A cardinal. And cows. Lots of cows. (I also spotted some dragon flies...but not any dragons...)
We’ll close with mention of a patriotic display of flags we saw last Saturday evening along McMahan Lane...not far north of Wolf Lake...
Enough for now...