Small treasures

Hey Pops,

Sorry it's been a while. Things get busy, and next thing you know, its a couple of months later. Anyway, thought I'd let you know how much I miss our early Sunday morning phone conversations. I miss telling you about my week, the good stuff and the bad, and giving you the weekly wildlife update. There are other people I can tell, but it's not the same.

We got a new plow truck this year. A new new plow truck, as in not new to us but from a dealer new plow truck. I like it, except it's kind of an odd beige/grey color (the official color is "Granite") instead of dark green like a proper park truck ought to be. And it's a Dodge...wonder how long it'll be before the transmission goes.

The morning wildlife sightings are pretty good on the back roads I take to work. Last winter, I saw a deer getting a drink from a stream that flows through a marsh, just a quick glimpse and a "did I really see that?" thought immediately after I passed the spot. A couple of weeks ago on a weekend morning when I was the only car on the road, I saw a fox crossing a field. I stopped and watched him and he watched me, and then I drove away leaving him to whatever fox business he was about that frosty morning. Sunday, a red-tailed hawk flew by just above windshield height, being mobbed by a flock of crows. And I frequently have to stop for turkeys in the road, and no, before you ask, they were not frozen (no one else gets the joke, guess that's what they mean by a private joke, huh?). Speaking of turkeys, I was checking the campground after the first snow storm of the season and discovered a really nice feather. Then I found another one, and a couple more and then it looked like a bird exploded, there were so many feathers around. I did some tracking and pieced together what happened: the turkeys had been roosting in the campground, and a fox had made the campground part of its territory and the two crossed paths. And the fox ate well that night and the little ranger got some wicked nice feathers out of the deal. They go nicely with the deer skull, antlers still attached, that a park visitor found and gave me. And last week, a tourist stopped to ask me a bunch of questions just outside the shop and two deer zipped by just behind him. I have to admit to not giving him my full attention, the deer were far more interesting and he never saw a thing.

Well, that's kind of it for the wildlife report from this neck of the woods.
Talk to you later.
Tami