I know this isn't "news" but since it's my web site, I will take the liberty . . . I'm still up here in rural Pennsylvania with my wife, at the house I inherited after my mom died. Country living is a GIGANTIC change for a city boy like me.
Yesterday morning, around 7 AM, I was walking through my living room. There's a large, 5-bay window looking out over the lower 1/2 acre out toward the nearby creek. What do I see? TWO Bald Eagles flying about ten feet above the water right through my property! WOW! Majestic birds. Big!
A few minutes later, I saw them coming back the other way, flew right along the bank of my property and the creek.
A little while later, I go out the front to smoke. I step off the front porch and take a few steps toward the edge of the downslope that goes to the property's lower level (toward the creek) and I hear what sounded like a sneeze. But NOT a human sneeze. And whatever it was, sounded large.
I take another couple steps, and a Deer which was on the lower level, about 15 feet from me, BOLTED out into the creek, crossed it, and disappeared into the woods on the other side. This was a fully adult deer. No antlers. No white spots. And it had to be heavy too, I could hear the hoofs as he ran, thumping the ground.
A few minutes ago, today (Saturday) I'm out using the blower attachment to the weed eater and I see a Bald Eagle fly up the creek and land on a tree which had fallen from my property and is laying in the creek. The bird must be three feet tall when just perched there!
I ran inside, got my phone and started a video as I walked out the back door to get to the actual path that will take me to the lower level. I got down to that lower level and as I was walking toward the place where the eagle was perched, he must have seen me and took off. But I got brief video as he flew south along the creek. Wing span must be 6 feet or more. Really majestic.
You know, living out here in the country is WAAAAAAAAAAY different from the suburbs. It takes an AWFUL lot of property maintenance. And catching-up after the maintenance has not been done in awhile is a massive task. Stuff grows everywhere. I mean everywhere. And it grows thick and dense, too.
I had a landscaping crew here around Memorial Day weekend to do the big stuff. I've cut the grass every week since then. But there are areas where the land slopes that were not done. So last week, I hired landscaper guys again. They came, trimmed the trees along the creek, removing the low-hanging branches to improve my view of the creek, and weed-whacked all the heavy growth along the creek bank. Then they cleared the hill that leads from my house level up to the road, Days and days and days of work. And some of those days were HOT last week.
Little by little, I am reclaiming all the land that mom apparently couldn't keep up with. Little by little, everything is becoming really beautiful here.
The landscapers will be back this afternoon. I'll get maybe four hours work outta them. More land to reclaim. More sloping hill to clear.
OH, by the way, when I woke up this morning. it was forty-six degrees outside! BRRRRRRRRRR., Had to close the house windows and put the heat on for a little while to take the chill out.
Going up to 80 degrees here today. Beautiful clear blue skies. Gentle breeze.
WOW. Just to "be" -- and to "be" here on God's beautiful earth, is such a gift.
