my own drum

What a day in the woods I had today. It started when I had about a two hour block of free time this afternoon. I decided to venture around the base of the mountain. I made my way via a trail that some hunters had made, hoping that if they were out there, they might be near the trail.

There was no sign of anyone. I went deeper into the woods, and made my way down the old mine road. I didn't go very far, and meditated in the quiet woods for nearly an hour. Then I made my way back down the mine road, and cautiously walked to the Medicine Wheel, still in the woods.

As a sat down near the Medicine Wheel there was a single shot fired from the hillside behind me. I saw no one, and heard nothing else. I'm thinking that a hunter had seen me, and fired a round to tell me to stay away. Screw that! I enjoy these woods too.

So I'm sitting there when I heard the roar of a jet engine. This isn't unusual, they fly nearby about once a month. What was unusual was that the jet circled back. Then I saw it through the trees. There was an A-10 flying sorties over the town. He would fly over my head on the path to the town, then he circled back and flew over the town again. This happened five different times. Once he flew so low and so close that I could smell the jet exhaust. The jet engine was whining as it passed overhead. And low.. yes, very low. It was two to three times the height of the treetops - lower than 500 feet, easily.

I've been looking at jet images this evening, and I'm fairly certain that it was an A-10 that I saw. The wings were straight, not swept. There was a tank, or a bomb, at the end of each wing. Basically, it looked similar to a flying H, with the tail section not as wide as the wings. I didn't see the jet engines on the rear of the fuselage, but my view was obstructed through the trees. I only saw fast glances of this jet.

Well, it was quite a day in the woods. Has anyone else noticed jets flying sorties over their neighborhood lately?