See You on the Lake
Our trees are a vital part of the beauty of our Great Outdoors
Woody Cooper

Nature has done so many wonderful things for me during my lifetime that I try to share them with everyone. I have never seen a painting, photo or drawing that comes anywhere close to showing the true beauty of our trees, valleys, grasses, mountains ,flowers, hills and water. Every state in our blessed union has areas of beautiful works of nature. Those spots can hold a man spellbound for ever just filling his soul with the pure pleasure and rapture of looking, listening and smelling the scene that Mother Nature has laid before him.

Have you listened to the breeze make its music through the leaves of the stately cotton wood tree or the sigh that it brings to the long leaf pine as it rushes up the valley and over the hill jumping from tree to tree? One of the more pleasant sounds in the world is to listen to the rain as it moves through the forest toward the spot that you are standing. I have sat for many hours listening to the waters of a creek gurgle and bubble it's way over the stones in the creek. Feeling the cool comfort of the creek water caressing your feet and dangling legs is an experience that has to be felt to appreciated the pure joy that it brings. Have you heard the sounds that the trees make as they bend, dance and wave with the gentle breeze or shriek with fear when the gentle wind turns into a limb breaking gale? How thrilling it is to see a tiny snowflake and a single raindrop. It's almost impossible to comprehend that every river, creak, stream and other bodies of water all are made from such tiny raindrops and snowflakes. While very young I wanted to know the answers to everything but couldn't find a person or book to give me all the answers. I wanted to know how many snow flakes fell in a second. How many raindrops does It take to make a river. How many trees does it take to make a big forest? Where does the wind come from and where does it go? When does a mound become a hill and when does a hill become a mountain? Where does all the wondrous scents and sights of all our blooms go after they bloom? I often wonder if nature spending all it's violent emotions of cloudbursts, tornados, hurricanes. and gales in. retaliation toward mankind or is she just pruning her forests ?

I have spent untold hours watching the ants work and have even picked out one single ant to follow to see where and why it is going. Watching the bees work over the flowers is another fun thing. The most lovable bird to me is the tiny humming bird whose little wings are just a blur. I still watch them daily in my yard and have three feeders on my gazebo and one in a nearby tree. They are not here in full force yet but there have been a few to eyeball the past two weeks. Like most Lufkin folks I have a yard full of squirrels, both gray and fox boogers They play much like puppy dogs and make a racket when disturbed. Nature is pure, not simple by any means but pure. I could not exist without being able to get out and away from man made cities and towns and villages. "Progress" is fine and dandy but if it encroaches on my nature I try to steer clear of most of it. I guess that if I had to be honest about what I am it would have to be COUNTRY.

While teaching and coaching in one school in Oklahoma I ran into a pleasant on going program sponsored by the school. It was my first year at the school and the huge tree and shrub plants on the big campus was beautiful. The school that I had left had no campus at all and we even had to park our cars in the streets around the school. The event that was sponsored was a contest for all clubs and groups. The winning team got a holiday from school. Being competitive I huddled my athletes together and told them we were going to win the event. The reason that there were so many trees and plants on the campus was easy to figure now. The group that brought and planted the most plants would win. I took a small group with me on the Saturday of the program and the athletes broke into a half dozen gangs and set sail. I had been talking to neighbors and friends of the school and had got several shrubs and a couple small trees. I could not believe what the different teams were coming in with and many of the trees were already planted by my athletes before I got there to plant mine. It was no contest, we won it hands down and the brass told me that it as the greatest day in the history of the event. We must have added twenty trees. It just happened that my wife called my attention to a newspaper story a few days later It seems that several property owners on the other side of town reported that trees had been dug up and stolen from their laws on Friday night. I almost choked on the food I was trying to eat because a probable possibility that our win was a steal. No one ever mentioned it to me and I will tell you for sure I did not mention it to any one including my athletes.

I guess that I would have to pick the difference between an optimist and a pessimist. I would put down the answers to two men who had just returned from vacation. "How did your vacation go?" "After spending ten days in the wild and seeing, smelling and hearing the wind, water and trees, flowers mountains and forests I am rested, happy and ready to go to work" That's an optimist. The pessimist said, "After returning from the mountains and forests said, "Oh okay, I guess, but I couldn't see a dammed thing for all the trees, mountains and and shrubs." Oh well every one for his own thing.

Buckle Up, Drive With Care, Put On A Life Jacket And I'll See You On The Lake.