I spent many a night sitting on the porch listening to the crickets and watching for lightning bugs. The sounds of home give me a sense of peace like no other. There was an occasional coyote with a responding call from another as they searched each other out. Then if you listened close you could hear a bullfrog up by the pond calling out into the night.
The other thing which just enhanced the night was watching the stars turn around the North Star and the milky way spreading its light dust of white in the sky. The joy I felt when a shooting star glanced across the night sky was spectacular in the Osage. To this day I still love to sit outside at night and glance over the night sky, like tonight. But in the Osage you could see so much more. A friend, not acquaintance, Stan Horst, helped me select a set of binoculars and a tripod for watching and tracking the stars. If you have never tried it borrow or steal one, maybe not a good idea, a set of binoculars with as large of lens as possible then travel to the Osage and take a peak. I promise the view will be spectacular.
Now if you are up for it I would also suggest one of the best and by far the best time to hear the sounds of the Osage is in the morning. Find yourself a place along the creek long before daylight. The first thing you will hear is a whippoorwill (bird) slowly chanting its name not to fast but seldom as if it were their job to wake everything up like a nice soft alarm clock in the morning. The next sounds were the bobwhite quail calling out their name. I promise if you try it you will know in a second which one it is just by the chant and knowing the name you will be able to put it together. Nowadays, as in not back when I was a kid, if you try it you will probably hear a turkey hen chirping then a tom turkey gobbling out to locate the hens. Slowly in the morning the crickets wake up one at a time until there is a loud chorus but for some reason which I still do not know they go deathly silent until evening. The frogs wake up and not just the bullfrog but the tree frog or green frog.
As daylight begins to break you hear the first cow or bull calling out looking for its calf or its friends. By the time daylight is close to full it seems that the chorus of sounds goes somewhat quiet as everyone gets busy eating and doing their chores for the day. Ahhhh, the sounds of home.
What do you learn in the Osage?
The other thing which just enhanced the night was watching the stars turn around the North Star and the milky way spreading its light dust of white in the sky. The joy I felt when a shooting star glanced across the night sky was spectacular in the Osage. To this day I still love to sit outside at night and glance over the night sky, like tonight. But in the Osage you could see so much more. A friend, not acquaintance, Stan Horst, helped me select a set of binoculars and a tripod for watching and tracking the stars. If you have never tried it borrow or steal one, maybe not a good idea, a set of binoculars with as large of lens as possible then travel to the Osage and take a peak. I promise the view will be spectacular.
Now if you are up for it I would also suggest one of the best and by far the best time to hear the sounds of the Osage is in the morning. Find yourself a place along the creek long before daylight. The first thing you will hear is a whippoorwill (bird) slowly chanting its name not to fast but seldom as if it were their job to wake everything up like a nice soft alarm clock in the morning. The next sounds were the bobwhite quail calling out their name. I promise if you try it you will know in a second which one it is just by the chant and knowing the name you will be able to put it together. Nowadays, as in not back when I was a kid, if you try it you will probably hear a turkey hen chirping then a tom turkey gobbling out to locate the hens. Slowly in the morning the crickets wake up one at a time until there is a loud chorus but for some reason which I still do not know they go deathly silent until evening. The frogs wake up and not just the bullfrog but the tree frog or green frog.
As daylight begins to break you hear the first cow or bull calling out looking for its calf or its friends. By the time daylight is close to full it seems that the chorus of sounds goes somewhat quiet as everyone gets busy eating and doing their chores for the day. Ahhhh, the sounds of home.
What do you learn in the Osage?
- There is value in listening
- The reason God gave us two ears and one mouth is so we can listen more than we talk, at least twice as much listening as talking
- Peace is where your heart is not where your body is
Thanks for your time,
gary@thepioneerman.com
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