The future, Mr. Gitts, the future.

I don't know how long the red tail hawk had been circling the valley before I noticed him. He'd probably been there as long as I'd been perched atop the canyon crest. We were both there for the same reason: to kill something. As I looked down on his effortless circling I realized we were both fucked. It was too hot for anything to be moving, not even the proverbial mouse but here we both were, looking for something to kill. I watched him through my binoculars for a bit, having long ago given up on finding a mule deer, and wished that I could get his perspective on things. I couldn't. I had climbed for about two hours and every bit of my body remembered every vertical foot of the climb. Lucky bird.

The sun was too high in the sky, the water that I thought would be flowing through the valley was barely a trickle and the whole endeavor was beginning to look like yet another long walk in the sun. Strangely enough I was perfectly content to sit and stare out into the valley and try to memorize every scrub brush and tree and rock. If something changed, if there were suddenly antlers where previously there had only been brush, I'd know. I kept saying that to myself as I slowly cut into an apple and watched the hawk. That's when I saw the black bear. I had seen his tracks at first light as I hiked into the valley. His massive paw prints along the same trail I was walking were what prompted me to make the climb up onto the valley rim a bit earlier than I had intended. He (she? it?) lumbered through the valley brush and up the walls with a bizarre ease and grace that one would not have suspected from a furry, clawed, VW bug. Watching that bear made me realize that I was out of my league and that had there been any deer in that valley they were long gone by now. I waited until he walked up hill on the other side of the valley and out of sight. Then I waited another hour and called it a day.

Hunting. Hiking. Not talking or making a sound for days on end. I love nature.

Peace out, bitches!