Perhaps you’re thinking this post is about a trip I
took to the woods. I see those posts
often in various blogs…pictures of trees and camping gear, backpacks…that sort
of thing. And, in fact, I had wondered
about doing this post for a while since in my case it would probably be more
appropriate to write something entitled, A
Day in the City. You see, I live in
the woods. Via the miracles of
technology I’m able to send you these writings, but aside from being “connected
online,” I live an isolated life. You
might recall I’ve mentioned there is a hamlet about four miles to the south of
me. Four hundred people or thereabouts,
but I seldom go there other than to check for mail at the Post Office or pick
up something at a little Ranch & Farm Supply store. Aside from that my
trips to “the world” are few and I like it that way.
I read an article recently about this fellow who
wanted to make a selfbow using primitive tools. He had a nice collection of
rocks so he acquired a few good flakes and set to work making his bow. But he could never leave the concept of time
out of his essay. Throughout his story
he kept telling the reader how quickly he was performing the work. “It only took me ten minutes to chop down the
sapling.” “I had the stave floor-tillered
using my hand-axe in less than an hour.”
And so on.
But live in the woods and the idea of time—as it
relates to accomplishing a task or anything else—becomes superfluous. You see, the concept of time is only
important to those who must live their lives by the clock. I imagine that primitive people thought
little of time and concentrated more on simply accomplishing the task at
hand. Ask a Neolithic man how long it
took him to make his bow and he would look at you wondering, “Why is that
important….I have no idea…I started and I finished…Does anything else matter?”
That’s exactly how it is for me living in the woods. I wake up and get to work. I eat when I’m hungry. I go to bed when I’m sleepy. I have work to do…I do my work…I finish the
job. All the while the woods are but a
few feet from my cabin. I have a yard of
sorts but it’s really nothing more than a somewhat cleared area beyond my front
door. I also have a storage shed and
workshop about 100 feet from the cabin.
Perhaps you’ve seen my post and video entitled, “Using a Machete with a Gancho hook.” I made that video when we were building the
storage cabin.
That, my friends, is my day in the woods. As I write this post I can see a number of
birds at my four watering stations in my “front yard.” Here is a list of the
birds I’ve seen in the past two days:
Rose-throated Becard (gravis sp.)
painted bunting
brown thrasher
curved bill thrasher
white-tipped dove
mourning dove
ruddy ground dove
common ground dove
Inca dove
Eurasian collared dove
cardinal
pyrrhuloxia
black-crested titmous
green jay
bullock's oriole
hooded oriole
Altamira oriole
ladder backed
woodpecker
golden fronted
woodpecker
mockingbird
greater road runner
yellow billed cuckoo
great kiskadee
cactus wren
vermilion flycatcher
bobwhite quail
Harris hawk
Caracara
Great-horned owl
Looking out the window to check on the birds is an ongoing
affair. I’ve had birds nesting all around
and, like an expectant father, I’m watching for new hatchlings. It’s been quite
hot lately but, of course, this is a South Texas summer and to be
expected. What I find amazing is the
weather in other places and especially the wildfires. I have a cousin who lives
in Colorado Springs. Her emails have
been alarming. She and her husband were within a few miles of the devastating
fires. I have a friend who lives in Ruidoso,
New Mexico. He was plagued by a wildfire
a few weeks ago. Hope things are going
okay, Leroy.
Last night I listened to a great-horned owl and
several pauraques and now and then I’d hear a screech owl. And so it goes.
There is always something new to see or experience. I’ve received a number of emails asking me to
write more about my life in the woods. I will oblige my readers.
