Saturday, January 13, 2007

Lake Tanglewood Mornings

My in-laws live at Lake Tanglewood near Amarillo. We've been making trips up there for over 25 years. Lake Tanglewood is one of the hidden gems in the Panhandle. As the flat treeless plains give way to the lake filled canyon, everything changes. The prairie grass gives way to cottonwood trees and small cedar trees. As you cross the bridge you can see grebes, coots, and assorted ducks.

We wake up to the call of turkeys outside the RV. The ravine near my sister-in-law's house is the evening roost for a large flock of turkeys. They start their morning on Mary's yard. Henry counted 24 one morning as he walked from Mary's house to his parents' home.

Because there is no hunting and this are is protected from the panhandle wind by the canyon walls, deer abound. As I drive into Evelyn's driveway there are usually 5 or 6 deer either foraging or laying down. This year there was one buck with a tremendous rack. There were also a couple of bucks with little tiny horns - almost reminded me of horns I see on costumes at Halloween or at science fiction conventions. If your ranking in the herd is based on the size of your horns, these young bucks are at the bottom of the line. But as with many things in life - that's where they are right now. This is a safe environment and each of these young bucks is likely to have a full life with a large rack. But for now they will have to wait, probably without the knowledge that they won't always be at the bottom of the hierarchy.

Each morning as I sit in the den, I see many small birds. I don't have time this trip to identify all of the birds that perch in the shrubs near the house. I did identify dark eyed junkos and probably a red headed woodpecker. And, of course, the turkeys stroll through the yard every day as well.

I'm glad my inlaws chose this part of paradise to spend their retirement years. We have been blessed by our visits here.

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