After Friday morning’s surgery, I skipped lumbering for the rest of the weekend to let my stitches do their thing. So, come Monday, I was pretty eager to get back in the woods, and the woods did not disappoint.
The morning temps are still cold, of course, and long pants, gloves, and a jacket are still required, something I really thought I would be done with in early May, but then I remembered, Michigan always gotta Michigan.
The critters were pretty active, I got a couple shots I liked, and ended up doing a 7-mile loop to kick off the week.
***
Tuesday was ANOTHER cold morning with some light frost, and I found myself back on the trails, hoping for more miles and more critters. Well, while the miles were there for the taking, the critters were NOT cooperating, and the only shot of worth was a boring deer photo that I didn’t even bother editing (not the boring one above). S
Still, it was nice to be in the woods for 6.37 miles of lumbering.
Speaking of critter and not cooperating…
THINGS NOT A PHOTO OF AN OWL
Over the past couple of weeks, there has been one section of the trail where I have been hearing an owl hooting somewhere nearby. I made the mental note to keep an eye out when on that section, but like anything of worth, sometimes my mental notes go in one ear hole and out the other.
Today, about 5 miles in, I was on that section of the trail, and since I wasn’t seeing or hearing anything of worth, I was in full Power-Lumber mode with a nice pace going. Well, it was fast until I was startled and came to a dead stop when an owl (the owl) flew off a branch just to my left and disappeared deep into the swampy woods.
It couldn’t have been more than 10 or 15 yards to my left, and it was a beautiful sight as it silently vanished into the trees.
I was so pissed at myself for not paying attention, but an owl encounter is always super cool, and I’m always amazed at how completely silent they are when they fly! Just complete silence as it glides and flaps through the air, ready to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse.
As I continued down the trail, I could hear it in the distance, “WHO… WHO… WHO… WHO was that dumbass WHO didn’t have his camera ready?” Sigh…
If nothing else, I gave myself a pat on the back for knowing that an owl was living in that section of woods, and reminded myself that while I love getting miles in my feetz, I love getting photos of critters just as much—SO STAY PREPARED!
Later.
NOTE: All the photos here were taken on Monday’s lumber.