Heading east from my house in Yorkville, which I usually have to do when working, I quickly descend into suburbia and it pretty much stays like that all the way to Chicago. Rows of townhomes that all look alike and the same goes for the stand alone homes in the subdivisions. I like passing the subdivision they called Timber Creek. There is no timber since it was built on a former corn and soybean field and the nearest creek is a good three miles away, but those are just details.
To go grocery shopping I have to drive eight miles to the west. This may sound imposing to those that live to the east, but most of the driving is on roads with 55 mile per hour speed limits and on a bad day it takes me all of 12 minutes to get to the store.
The trip to the store starts at the river below my house where four bald eagles were sitting in the trees on the island like usual.
Like usual, a term I thought I’d never use when referring to bald eagles. Seeing them sitting around in the trees on the island below my house has come to be expected. I can’t remember the last time they weren’t there, like usual.
A half mile west and the first of the farm fields start and that’s pretty much all you see for the next eight miles. Sure, there are a few homes and further off the road are farm houses and barns, but not much else.
At one of the 90 degree bends in the road you have no choice but to slow down to 15 miles per hour. At the bend, in what was a corn field last year, a half dozen turkey were rummaging around in the stubble. They were sticking close to the dense woods that line the river. This area is also home to quite a few coyotes and for as big and cumbersome as a turkey looks, they do a pretty good job of flying fast through dense tree cover.
Not wildlife, but the sheep on one farm were out grazing and further down the road the horses were out. One end of the cattle farm was filled with, well, cattle, while the other end was filled with a few hundred ducks and geese. A creek flows through here and it wasn’t high or frozen. I had been wondering where all the geese on the river had gone to.
A couple of red tailed hawks were picking apart a carcass in a corn field not far from the road and a little further down another hawk was perched near the top of a tree. I’ll assume it was debating whether to kill something or to wait till something died on it’s own. The second choice would be easier, but I imagine it could take a little while longer.
On the way to the store I remembered a couple of things I needed to get but didn’t write down on my list. I have to have a list for grocery shopping, I no longer trust my memory. With no pen in the car I thought, no big deal, I’ll remember.
So much for that. Apparently the distractions of wildlife and farm life pushed those unlisted items from what few brain cells I have left.
That’s alright, I guess it’s back to the store with my new list and the hopes of seeing a deer or two.
