Catching Idle Butterflies

Badland Adventures

Sleeping in Saturday morning, Dave, Rufus and I didn’t arrive at our campsite until early afternoon. With the temperatures continuing to rise, Dave and Rufus napped in the shadow of our tent. I sat in my camouflage folding chair finishing off Alexandra Fuller’s Scribbling the Cat and started to devour The Highwayman by R.A. Salvatore.

I glanced up often to listen to the quiet. The only sounds reaching my ears were the soft gusts of warm breeze, rustling of small creatures in the grass, the occasional cry of a hawk, and the arrhythmic thump of the gas release valve of an oil well built on the other side of a hill from our camp.

When the sun began its descent along with the temperatures, we decided to drive to a place Dave and his hunting buddies named “Rabbit Rock.” Next to another oil well is a massive pile of rocks 12 feet high, 20 feet wide and about 30 feet long. Perfect for rabbits to breed and hide. With .22 rifle in hand, Dave played the hunter and proceeded to find us supper. We left Rufus in her cage in the back of the pickup so we wouldn’t have to worry about her accidentally getting hit with a stray or ricochet bullet.

Some of you might find eating rabbit (poor little Thumper) icky. I tell you, you’re missing out on some quality meals. During college, we raised rabbits for food. We ended up saving a lot of money in meat, because after counting the feed, pound-for-pound it was cheaper than chicken, let alone pork or beef.

We took our cleaned Thumper back to camp and Dave made rabbit stew made with onions, potatoes and gravy. Though it took over an hour to cook and we had to eat in the dark, it was one of the best meals Dave and I had in a long time.

When it was ready and I stood at the tailgate of the pickup with plate in hand, Rufus standing beside me suddenly whirled around like something bit her rear. I heard this at one frightened and angry bark, and I jumped thinking some dog or coyote had decided to attack our dog. After a half second, I realized that bark came from Rufus.

Heart pounding, I followed her gaze and saw a pair of glowing green eyes staring at me from about twenty feet away. I squinted my eyes to determine what that massive black shape was. Dave grabbed my flashlight and shone it on what Rufus continued to stare and bark at.

I laughed and said, “It’s just a cow!”

The cow continued to stare at us looking a bit confused as to what to do next. Judging from all the cow pies and cow prints riddling our campsite, I understood the cow’s confusion. We were blocking its way to its next feeding area. Oh well. Ten minutes later after we calmed Rufus down, the cow had disappeared.

As we ate, the half-moon casting a silvery glow on our surroundings disappeared behind a hill. The stars brightened, and we saw the tell-tale ghostly glow of the northern lights. We waited for the Auroras to move closer and take shape. They never did, remaining a glow not unlike a thin fog for a few hours.

Supper finished, Dave found a stick and began playing fetch. Even in the black, Rufus found that one stick in the thick brush every time. It took her a while, but she never gave up.

When she did bring it back, she strutted and pranced with her head held high in pride at her success. Dave and I both laughed at her.

I went to bed not long after, Dave and Rufus following me about an hour later. We both had to tell Rufus to lay down, as she wasn’t ready to sleep. She kept trying to push the zipper of the tent open to get out and explore more. She succeeded once, dang smart dog!

The night was cool with a nice breeze, but I didn’t sleep well. That’s partly because I missed my nice soft bed, but also because an owl hooted at us all night long. I love that sound, just not when I’m trying to sleep. That, and Rufus kept stealing our covers! Dave and I both had to push her off our bed so we could grab back our blankets. An hour later, she’d move, plop down next to me, wiggle around to get comfortable, and forcing the blankets off us again. Kind of funny now, but dang frustrating at the time.

The next morning we drove around looking for deer since Dave has an archery license. We didn’t see as many as the night before, because we waited about 45 minutes too long. Most had already found their hiding spots and bedded down for the day. The ones we did see were either too far away, or knew what Dave was up to, running as fast as their nimble legs could take them up and down those steep hills.

Seeing a few grouse along the way, we decided to go for a hike and see if Rufus could flush them up again. Since I had neglected to bring my hunting license along, I couldn’t hunt. Dave grabbed his shotgun, and all three of us went for a hike. Most of the pictures I took while on this hike. The grouse ended up being as smart as the deer. We didn’t see a single one.

You can check the photos out starting with this one:

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Since I needed to be back for the church meeting I talked about yesterday, we headed home at about one in the afternoon.

Overall a fun and relaxing weekend.