Why was I here when I could be home where I could settle into my recliner in the coolness of my front room? Truthfully I doubt that I could answer that question in any coherent way.
The sound of clicking wings as the male grasshoppers launching themselves over the hay meadows that flanked the stream was the only sound that broke the silence of the hot late summer day. A lone hawk was carving lazy circles in the hazy summer sky as I settled back in the shade of a cottonwood tree. The bark is rough against my back and even in the shade the summer heat was relentless and the occasional breeze was hot. A small trickle of sweat slid down my cheek and dripped on my shirt adding to the sweat that already soaked the fabric.