This is looking to the Southwest from my house this morning. Most people wouldn’t think anything special was being shown, but when you look closer the horizon has turned up and it appears that you can see things that are over a hill normally. The object in the middle of the picture is the elevator over at Griffith Texas which is about eighteen miles in the distance. In the foreground there is some Antelope grazing that in a playa lake out of sight of my house. The bluish cloud bank is sand hills in New Mexico.This is looking West this morning and everything from my house to the New Mexico line is included in the picture. The temperature inversion make the picture sometime a little fuzzy, but it really is a sight when you can see all those things normally out of sight. The Indians that roamed Thur this area must have enjoyed these inversion when they were hunting for the herds of Buffalo. Being able to see nearly as far as you could ride in a day would have been a big advantage. A land without any landmarks other than Beargrass could be a challenge to hunt in with such a vast area to look.These Sandhill Cranes have always been a common sight for the local residence, but this dry year has made it hard on the birds looking for fields to forage on. This little group was talking their normal crane call and starting to get themselves slowed down for a landing. They generally all have the same wing set until they get ready to land.

The cold dry morning can be a refreshing and rewarding time after a long hot Summer. Most visitors to they area always comment on the freshness and dry air on these winter mornings. Those who have lived here say that is what they miss most about the area.

Well I’ll wrap it up for today and know how much you would have liked to have been here this morning. Take care and God willing we will all get to enjoy a few more during our time. John Tucker