Where Have You Been, Texas Cryptid Hunter?

I have received several emails over the last couple of weeks that have all asked basically the same question, “Where have you been?”

It seems that I write some version of this post every year as I don’t want anyone thinking I’ve abandoned the blog and stopped my TCH related activities. The problem is simply that life has intervened and I have had little to no time to dedicate to the site. As most of you know, I’m a football coach in the state of Texas. This is absolutely the craziest and busiest time of the year for me. From August to late November, I am chasing my tail like you wouldn’t believe. In addition, my wife has taken a new, and much more demanding, job which has made it necessary for us to reshuffle some family duties. It has all been good but it is a struggle when it comes to time management.

Several things are on the horizon that I’ll be sharing about soon. The annual NAWAC retreat is coming up and I’ll likely tweet live and post photos from that event. Also, I have two game cameras in the shop that I hope to have back soon so that I can begin a new field study. I currently have one camera deployed that is due to be checked. Actually, it is well past the time it should have been refreshed but I have been trying to wait for the other two cameras to arrive so that I could deploy them in the area and just make the one trip.

Things should slow down some soon and I’ll get back to doing the things I enjoy like writing the blog and chasing down any and all leads on the mysterious and undocumented animals that may or may not roam the Lone Star State. Hang in there with me. I appreciate each and every one of you that stop by to read about my thoughts and activities. In the meantime, be sure to check out my Facebook page and Twitter accounts (hit the links in the right margin). While I have not had time to write much on the blog, I have continued to post links of interest and news items I come across related to the natural and cryptozoological world.

More soon.

The Wisdom of Henry David Thoreau

"It is not what you look at that matters, it is what you see.”

- Henry David Thoreau

On the Ivory-billed Woodpecker

During a recent interview I was asked why the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, among all the species driven to extinction by human behavior, has remained so much in the consciousness of the American public? To answer the question I referred back to something I wrote several years ago in a review for the movie Ghost Bird.

Certainly, it is a striking and beautiful creature but I think it is more than that. The Ivory-Bill offers hope of redemption for we Americans who, while we loved the forests and wild places of our continent, failed to be good stewards of the incredible resources with which we were blessed. True, our failures are magnified by the extinction of such a magnificent bird. But if, somehow, the Ivory-Bill has survived then we would have an opportunity to make things right. We would have a second chance. Until, and unless, we get that chance we will be forever haunted by this ghost bird.

I continue to pray that the Ivory-billed woodpecker survives somewhere in the bottom-lands of the Deep South and that we will get that second chance.