Sunday Sunday

After sorting the bills and writing checks for those due in the coming week, I decided to take a drive. I lit out for the western territories and within 5 minutes I spotted two red tail hawks perched upon telephone poles within 100 yards of each other. A rare find. I quickly pulled off to the side of the road and attempted to capture them with my trusty camera. The first one flew off as soon as I stopped the car. The second one did too, but landed on another pole not far from me.

Have I said how much I like birds of prey? No? I'll have to do that...

I proceeded another 10 minutes west until reaching the Fox River in hopes that the bald eagles had returned. Alas, no bald eagles. But I did spot a vulture soaring high above.


I also spotted a tree full of large birds. Unfortunately I couldn't get close and the skies were cloudy and hazy so the photos aren't clear... I don't know what the heck they are.

Leaving the Fox River, I decided to explore areas I'd not been in a long while and drove west past Aurora. Some roads were beautifully lined with trees begining their seasonal changes.


I kept wandering until I came upon a park I'd not heard of before, and the name caused me to stop. Bliss Woods Nature Preserve seemed to be a good place to take a walk, and I was right.

The preserve is full of mature hardwoods with beautiful foliage, even though the leaves aren't quite ready to change.


I was surprised how few birds there seem to be in these woods. Usually if I can't see them, I can at least spot their movements in my peripheral vision or hear them. There were very few sounds, other than distant traffic and what sounded like gunfire. I came across a biker that asked if I'd seen the deer from where he'd just come and then directed me to where he'd seen it.


No deer.

I did see a number of chipmunks and squirrels though. They were busilly readying themselves for the winter... I'm sure there's some old time lore about when the rodents ready for the winter and an indication of the coming weather.

The park was split by a road, which I crossed and began to hear more gunfire and over time I was convinced the park neighbored a gun range. I did find a halloween tree through, and had a very nice walk in the process.

I left Bliss Woods and began the drive home. I was alternating between James Pattersons "Honeymoon" and Demone on the CD player. I really didn't see anything of consequence on the way home either, so I snapped a shot of a combine harvesting beans.

So, I got home, checked email, and played with the dogs.

I'm working on some homework for work, ironically an E-Myth exercise called "Key Frustrations" lol. You're supposed to make a list of things in the business that frustrate you and work through a system of classifying them and making a plan to solve them.

I hope the sun shone on you today, warmed your face, and if not your soul.