Unexpected Visitors

This thunderstorm to our south was windswept and starting to form mammatus clouds under its anvil.
This thunderstorm to our south was windswept and starting to form mammatus clouds under its anvil.

I worked much of yesterday to create product for both the daily and the web site. It’s been hot and dry, such that many counties in Oklahoma have issued outdoor burn bans. Our pastures have gone from spring green to summer brown, and as such are reminding me of growing up in the dryer, hotter southwestern part of Oklahoma. Still, there are signs of hope and life. Last night instead of going to the park for fireworks or shooting off my own at the risk of starting a grassfire, I took my assault rifle down to the pond (which is completely dry right now) and shot about 75 rounds. I have some old aluminum pots on the far bank, and it’s fun to hear them clang when I hit them.

After shooting my gun, I ran inside to grab a camera to photograph a beautiful sky. It was a thunderstorm to our south, and while it was beautiful, it was also a cruel tease, since we got no rain from it at all.

Then this morning, as I got ready to make breakfast before going to the college to teach, I heard the dogs barking at something out front, so I looked out the front door to see a whitetail deer eating pears from Dorothy’s tree. I grabbed a 300mm, but only had a few seconds to shoot him before he bolted. It was an unusual sight because we normally only see them in the late evening.

A young whitetail buck moves through our north pasture this morning.
A young whitetail buck moves through our north pasture this morning.