This was the view Friday morning as I headed east to Minnesota for Christmas--an absolutely gorgeous sunrise over the Yellowstone River as I kept my eyes open for elk, deer, geese, and any other wildlife that might pull my attention from the mind-numbing task of keeping my truck between the lines. Tis the season, right? Well, if that means blasting ducks and geese then I'd say, "Yes! It is that season!"
As the sun came up and I worked my way further down the Yellowstone into Eastern Montana, my interest peaked as wave after wave of geese got up off the river and made their way from water to grain. The hunters were definitely waiting for them.
I was driving along, looking out over the valley and was spotting cluster after cluster of black heads poking up out of the stubble fields. At one point, I saw a flock of what I thought were authentic honkers in a field with another flock setting their wings for their final descent when a goose from the still airborne flock folded its wings and collapsed, spiraling to the ground.
"Holy crap!" I thought. "There's a dead goose." I was too far to hear the shot but it was obvious what had happened and for the next two hours, I watched intently to see if any other hunters were having success. I did see hunters and saw thousands of geese but didn't see anymore folding of wings. It was a kind of fun way to pass the time though.
I watched the sun come up and then set behind me as I drove 14 1/2 hours; just a little over 1,000 miles from Helena, MT to Brainerd, MN. I'm not going to lie, the Dakotas are not all that interesting to drive through. A good audio book definitely helped. Seeing all those geese is making me want to get back to Montana but seeing family is fun too and definitely overdue. The ducks and geese will have to wait for a few more days.
Merry Christmas to all my family and friends and to ALL the followers of the Dream.
Keep 'em where they live...
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