Antelope Up Close and Personal

These pictures were all taken on a short side road up the South Fork.

It was early July, we had just moved into our new home, and on a very warm summer day we were eager to explore the area we now called home.

The house was full of boxes.

So was the garage.

In another life I would have obsessively emptied boxes - tirelessly tearing them open one after the other, eager to find a place for everything and eager to declutter and organize in that obsessive-compulsive-organizational way that I have always had.

But this is a different life.

We had done nothing but move and organize for the past year.

I was working 48 hours a week trying to get a new business off the ground, we had just moved into a new home two miles from the lake and we were surrounded by mountains.

Summer was short.  

Winter was long.

We could unpack anytime.

For the past couple of months we have very slowly begun to get organized.

And that is OK.

And so.........with boxes everywhere, we went for a drive just a few miles further up the South Fork, enjoying the scenery, the beautiful day, and the knowledge that we lived here.

HERE!...................

Turning onto this side road early in our drive, we slowly made our way down the dusty, dirt road.

Not long after we turned off, we unexpectedly found this small herd of antelope.

It is difficult to get close to antelope - they are very wary, very skittish, very fast.

We were surprised when they did not immediately take off in a fast run.

They paid no attention to us at all...............

We watched them grazing, excitedly whispering to each other, while Kory stood silently in the back.

Staring through the front and side windows and not making a sound.................

Over the next few minutes we watched as the two here, the three over there, and the few that had been hidden in the tall grass of an adjoining field, all gradually gathered together to form a small herd.

There was water and plenty to eat, and it was obvious that these antelope were used to grazing unobstructed in this area.

Plenty of wide open fields in the middle of summer, furiously growing hay and other crops.

Cedar Mountain in the background................

It was a real novelty for us to be able to watch antelope simply walking and grazing so close to us.

Usually they were always on the run................

We must have watched this herd for almost 30 minutes

We have seen antelope so many times over the years.

Usually from a distance.

Usually while they were running from us even though we were still so far away from them, and presented no threat to them.

They are cautious and watchful animals.  

Easily startled.  

Easily to scare into a full run.

But on this day they were different and that was what was so mesmerizing about the encounter.

They were relaxed, comfortable, well fed, moving slowly and easily in a way that neither LC nor I was used to.

As they slowly walked away from us, LC and I looked at each other and smiled at this unexpected animal encounter.

And then we slowly turned the Tahoe around and headed back the way we had come.

It was time to "go further and see more".

We were going to love living on the South Fork.................

Water was how the desert would bring everyone together. The antelope's daily prayer, weighing the mortal need of water with the mortal danger of obtaining it..............Mike Bond, The Last Savanna