FROM PASTOR TO PASTURE
BY GLENN CRUMPLER
New Beginnings There are few things as refreshing and renewing as a warm, beautiful, spring-like day following the months of mostly cold, wet, overcast days of winter. The songs of chirping birds in the trees are welcomed sounds. The Purple Martin scouts have returned once again with all their exciting acrobatics and unmatched chatter - signaling that the return of our spring tenants is coming soon. New growth is budding out on trees and bushes that for so long have been dormant and bare. Clovers and ryegrass are greening up the pastures where the new calves and baby goats run and play. It is a good day for a picnic and a walk in the woods.
Many of the trails and bare spots on the ground show signs of increased wildlife activity as the deer, hogs and coyotes reach the end of their breeding seasons. The neighbor’s beautiful lake through the trees is dark and smooth. I see the swirling water in the shallows where a fat largemouth prepares to make her bed. I am not fishing, but I can feel in my hand, the cool, thick bluegill that I know must be lurking below that leaning log by the cypress. I can literally smell ‘that smell’ that brings back so many good memories of pulling spring bluegill from the cool, but warming waters. I can hear in my mind the sound of the propane cooker and the sizzling of the grease
April 2020
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