Oh, Deer ...

Oct 31, 2018

Just before lunch yesterday, looking out a kitchen window, I saw we had a visitor in the back yard. A doe. (See pic above.) I snapped that pic, put in on Facebook, thought: That's a first.

Oh, I'd seen evidence of deer on our property before (e.g., all our day lily blossoms missing overnight one year!). And I'd seen deer around the streets of Hudson--though not all that often. But this was the first one I'd seen actually in our yard.

I yelped upstairs to Joyce so that she could see the doe before Bambi's mom moved on to greener pastures.

But the doe stayed all afternoon, never really moving from "her" spot in the corner. (And, of course, I have no idea when she originally arrived.) Sometimes she would browse; sometimes she would lie down and appear to be asleep ... or dead? we wondered.

When I got home from the health club around 4, she was still there. And we began to worry: It was trick-or-treat night in our neighborhood (6-8 p.m.), and I was concerned that once it grew dark, she, sensing all the activity (and weird-looking creatures!), would perhaps panic and run out, maybe colliding with some kids. (No, dear kids, that was not a big person in a costume!)

So I called 911.

I explained the situation to the dispatcher, and she said, "Just shoo it away. We don't deal with these kinds of things."

Oh.

Joyce and I looked at each other. Headed out into the back yard.

The doe, lying down, regarded us with calm (we thought). I clapped my hands, moved closer. And with no warning whatsoever, she leapt to her feet and sprinted out of our back yard. I caught a glimpse of her racing across our street (no cars coming ... whew ... for she did not stop and look both ways before crossing!).

And where she went thereafter? Who knows?

We felt, I think, a mixture of relief and sorrow. It was kind of nice, having her as a guest for a while. But it couldn't be permanent, you know? And we were glad no little ghosts and Star Wars characters got blindsided by a deer.

I did learn a new appreciation for something, though--for that old saying ran like a deer. That thing moved, my friends, reaching Olympic speed almost immediately. Both graceful and panicky at the same time.

Sort of the way you and I move through life ...