Nature Things

Not Stranger Things

Last weekend I was able to get out of the city for a day and visit a state park in Needville, TX. Even with the brutal heat, it felt great being in nature and biking the gravel trails that surrounded each of the Brazos Bend lakes. It was a short break from the real world. I saw some things. I drew some things, too…

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Birds fly overhead like recon planes monitoring the quiet alligators in the muddy water. A snow goose lands in a gang of lily pads. The bird is innocent, oblivious to its surroundings. The water moves in half-circled ripples as something approaches from twenty yards away. A gator swims on its warpath equipped with enough scaly-skinned ammunition to take out a panzer tank. It’s not fair, I think to myself. This bird has no chance. The family right beside us cheers on the predator, hoping to witness the gator pluck its meal from the murky dining hall. “C’mon, c’mon,” the father whispers to the little girl holding oversized binoculars, as if he did not want to disturb the gator’s mission. He leans in. My girlfriend leans in. I lean in. Suddenly, we are in empirical Rome, frenzied spectators waiting for Maximus’s impending decapitation.

Lesson of the day: don’t poke the gators. Instead, sit under a tree and read comics.

Thanks for your time,

Nico