Sunday Morning Slight Detour

This one's for my outlaw buddy Rose Marie.  A few years ago, she gave me a baby lilac bush.

This year it's blooming for the first time.  Its location, in front of my Marianne-style white fence, creates a wonderful contrast. 

As the years go by and the bush keeps growing, I'll think about Rose Marie every morning when I walk to the barn. 

So, thanks, dear friend.  Those thoughts are always nice too. 

While I'm in the mood for thanking, I must acknowledge my dearly beloved Arabian buddy Lefty. 

He did some creative manicuring on my ornamental pear tree.  I was admiring it often this week as its full foliage was showing off hundreds of pastel pink blossoms.

The resulting pears are hard as rocks, but it's nice to have enjoy the shrubbery in the spring when it's dotted with all those blossoms.

Lefty has enjoyed the bush just as much as I, but in a different way.  Poor boy starves, ya know, so he's got to fill his tummy somehow.  His nibbles have provided one more year of having a misshapen bush greeting all visitors.  But Lefty's happy. 

After photographing the lilac and pear bushes, I drove my car to Woodside Road, about a mile west of us off Selle Road.  

Woodside is not a through road; it's private, and it serves as a utility route for Woods Crushing and Gravel operation.  

So, it's not a good idea to drive the road during the work week.  Early mornings and evenings, though, offer the ultimate in rural flavor with the Wood family's ranch operation on either side of the road.

I love biking the road in the evenings, and I thought this morning's visit would offer a nice change of pace to my morning walks. 

After walking a few hundred feet north, I sensed the same feeling I've experienced over the years when walking into remotely located restaurants, frequented mainly by locals.

There's the immediate cessation of whatever conversation was going on previous to the door opening and the stranger entering.  And, the looks, the stares and the obvious wondering in the minds of those inside:  who's that and what's their story?

That's kinda how Leonard Wood's red Angus greeted me this morning.  I knew I was committing a home invasion of sorts, as heads lifted from their green grass breakfast and eyes gradually focused on me. 

Unlike the restaurant scenes where folks sit at their tables to stare, these cows gathered forces and headed toward the fence to give me an upclose and personal scrutiny. 

I learned the pecking order quickly as the young bull among the crowd came forth and urged his ladies to "git outa here."  Some ladies among the crowd did what ladies do; they ignored him and kept studying me. 

Eventually, they'd seen enough and got back to watching after their calves or grabbing some more chow. 

On down the road, a few of the resident elk herd treated my presence in a similar fashion, only they were far across the field.  

I snapped photos with my usual regret of not having a good telephoto lens, and as I snapped, certain members of the herd led the others my direction.  

I looked at the herd, slowly moving my way and looked south down Woodside Road at my car, which seemed maybe a bit too far away if these untamed creatures decided to gang up on me.

So, I headed back and drove the car back to the same spot.  By that time, they'd had about enough of my presence and headed off to the west.

My slight detour this morning was a great change from the usual, and I'm sure my invasion into the inhabitants' space gave them something to think about too. 

Happy Sunday.