The Beauties and the Beasts

I wanted to move to the country for a quiet life. I didn't expect a colorful life, and all the activity I would find around me. 

Plans get disrupted by nature every year. Most usually, it's a frost that kills the blooms or a drought that kills plants. Or a critter that knows to pick the fruit the night before it gets ripe. But sometimes nature surprises me.

The mulberries were so sweet they didn't need sugar. Besides fruit from the trees overhead, I once was surprised to look up and see pelicans flying over. That's rare.

I admit, it's a bit unsettling to be on a walk and hear something skittering in the leaves at your feet. It's taken me a bit to accept the bad with the good. Sometimes the woods can be dangerous. I would say—the woods can be dangerous all the time. You have to be careful, and accept the risks.

This wild sow would have attacked me in a heartbeat if she'd thought her babies were threatened. I do my best never to have an encounter with a wild pig. I don't know that I would survive. This photo was taken with a trail cam which is safest. 

The fruit tree is protected from the animals. And if you look at the deer on the right, she only has three legs. 

Another critter I try not to get too near. I took this photo while on a walk. I wasn't expecting to see a bobcat, but we both went our separate ways. 

I lived nearby for a long time before I moved to this location and discovered nature. They don't advertise their presence. Even after I first lived here, I had no idea that I had so many four-legged neighbors.

After a path was mowed through the woods, and I began to take daily walks, I learned that the animals like to walk on mowed paths almost as much as humans. Why wouldn't they?