The deer and geese know the safest place to be from the hunters in the county. Last weekend I found their hiding place on Haulage Road in the reclaimed Sahara mine land.
I found them by mistake. I was actually hoping to check on progress on the Sahara Woods Fish and Wildlife Area. No, it is not yet open to the public, but the road through it is a public township road.
It was a thrilling drive for my girlfriend, Vicky, and me. I had hoped to take an ironic photograph on the sign I remembered along the road for South America. The car couldn't make it.
The rain earlier that day rendered the gravel, gob and mud road into a consistency much like oatmeal. The dark, country music of Uncle Tupelo set the soundtrack as the car bounced and slid across the road. My white knuckles steered around the biggest mud bogs and I hit the accelerator to navigate the rest, hoping the momentum would carry me through before my wheels sank. About a quarter mile in I decided I had pushed my luck too far and had to turn around. I never reached the South America sign.
So I crossed Carrier Mills Road and drove up Haulage Road believing its surface was harder. It was, but still mud holes threatened to bog us while I fishtailed my way through them and mud speckled the windshield.
The sound of my car frightened up what had to be thousands of geese out of the corn fields. The area could not be better for geese. There is plenty of corn that went unharvested and the strip pits have given them a place to swim.
I attempted to take photos of the geese, but none came out. They flew at too great a distance in the light fog of the late afternoon.
The Cain Cemetery is as quiet as ever. We found the grave of a Civil War soldier there.
I used to take my rat terrier out there so he could run without the allure of cars to chase. Rarely is there anyone else out there.
The area is empty and desolate, save for the herds of deer grazing and the geese. The old strip mine may be reclaimed, but there is no mistaking it is mine land and a place of ghosts.
Despite the fact it is forever altered, I find the area relaxing. Of course the deserts that I love are places many other people call too empty for comfort and good for nothing.
