Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Here I Go Again! Off to the Graveyard of Empires.

© 2010 Albert A Rasch and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
$g&m f9bd 45kd q!?5. trochronicles.blogspot.com
My Friends,

I should be half-way across Eastern Europe by the time you read this. After an all too short R and R, I am off to the Graveyard of Empires again.

A bloggers job is never done.

This one's a PSD gig, and once again a very safe and secure type of operation. As I am fond of saying, the statistics are in my favor. Bicycling in Sarasota, heck bicycling anywhere in Florida is far more dangerous than Afghanistan has ever been!

I am going to try real hard to blog from there more frequently this time around. I have a new Kodak M381 point and shoot, and it takes some awesome pictures. Maybe, before the end of the year I'll get the SLR I've been wanting, either a Cannon D50 or the Nikon D300.

Yesterday, Bubby and I did a walkabout behind the complex we live in. Little did I know that he had traversed this area in all directions. He took me on a two hour hike throughout the edges of the marshes and up into the drier pine and oak hammocks.

Of course we bumped into our usual pointy headed friend:

Cottonmouth junior...

And we found lots of tracks and sign:

Deer...

Greater Heron...

Raccoon...

Raccoon's repast of crawfish...

Lotsa flowers too...

Bubby scouting out tracks...

We had a pleasant time, found a couple of great branches to make a walking stick or two for Grandfather Rasch, and I was pleasantly surprised how much bushcraft he has absorbed over the years. He spotted the majority of the tracks, the cottonmouth, and suggested the paths to take to avoid either the wait-a-minute vines, or the muck in the swamps. As I said, alll in all a very enjoyable time!

So my friends until next time, remember to keep the outdoors in your heart if you're not in it!

1890s vintage 6 inch rifled cannon on Mullet Key.


Best regards, your friend,
Albert
Member: Kandahar Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...

The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles

9 comments:

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

Oh well i guess those 'gators are safe from us for another few months. Keep safe yourself fella
Your pal
SBW

Anonymous said...

You take care of yourself and we all will see ya when you get back.

Be Safe!

Whitetail Woods

CVA Wolf Black Powder Rifle Give-Away!

Doug said...

Your cottonmouths are way different looking than ours. Most times, ours are almost black.

Good luck over there!

Borepatch said...

Albert, stay safe, and let us know how things are going (when you can).

dukkillr said...

Stay safe.

Phillip Loughlin said...

Good luck over there and keep your head down, safe or not... never know when some yo-yo is gonna trip over his bootlaces and light up the compound with a BB gun... or something.

Seriously, was good to have you back for a while, and looking forward to seeing you out here in CA sometime after you come home again.

Tim Noble said...

Great blog. Take care.

Kansas Scout said...

Be Safe! My prayers are with you.

shotgunner.la said...

@Doug

The reason the cottonmouths look different is because the animal in the image in this post is NOT a cottonmouth. I repeat it is NOT a cottonmouth.

The animal depicted in this post is a Pygmy Rattlesnake. Likely a Dusky Pygmy. The latin name is Sistrurus miliarus and more can be seen here.