By JIMMY LOWE
GLASGOW — We took mom hunting last Saturday. We didn’t find any turkey or squirrel, and we didn’t even bother with the woodchuck that wobbled our way, but we did manage to bring back a dozen deer.
It was good to be out and about and together with mom during the last October afternoon while nature was arrayed in its finest autumn attire.
Mom’s usual lifestyle these days is rather quiet and orderly. She spends most of her time comfortably settled inside and is reluctant to travel out into the wild.
We picked her up and bid farewell to the jack-o-lanterns and other Halloween paraphernalia that was on display throughout the local civilization. We traveled to a forest where time was reported not by calendar or clock, but rather by the leaf on a tree or the fur on a critter.
We weren’t armed with a gun or bow. We didn’t have any weapon, at all. We were hunting instead with a camera.
Ours wasn’t the only car slowly maneuvering through the roadways in Mammoth Cave National Park. There were many travelers, some from faraway locations. Several were destined for the cave itself, and others, like us, were simply there to sample nature’s scenic beauty of the woodlands. Some of the travelers were content to savor the moments and enjoy the live panoramas, capturing them only to be replayed in imagination. Others, through, were stalking scenes and ultimately trapping them into photographs to be displayed in picture albums.
Several times along our route we noticed vehicles ahead of us that were pulled off the road. A pointed lens often protruded from the open car windows. This caused our attention to be directed to what they had already spotted. Perhaps it would be an explosion of color from the various trees, or maybe it would be an uncollected bouquet of flowers growing wild in the forest. Most usually, though, it would be a deer or two or more doing what deer do in an environment where they have learned to take the sightseer for granted.
These elegant creatures seemed to know they were privileged residents of the park, free to walk about their property with leisure. They took their time as they pranced across the highway or grazed along the edge of the woodlands. Their majestic movements were watched and photographed.
We could have also snapped shots of a darting groundhog, but he didn’t seem to possess the dignity of the deer. The prospect of having his portrait matted and framed and displayed didn’t seem at all appealing. So we only watched him scurry into the underbrush and hoped he would hurry out of our sight and into his hibernation.
We were quite satisfied, though, with the bounty we did capture in the park. We brought back several photos, including poses of twelve deer. In seasons yet to come, we’ll enjoy these pictures and reflect on the pleasant afternoon we spent back in October, 2009.
It was a successful hunt, indeed.
Mom enjoyed the afternoon, and so did we.
