Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Life at the edge of a forest

Mailboxes last autumn

I was standing by the rural mailboxes yesterday and had the oddest sense I was not alone... someone was on the other side of the fence... behind the mailboxes... on my neighbor's farm.  I looked up to see her staring at me... not certain if she should stand quietly still or run... her spots betraying her youth. 

I smiled in delight to see her and we stared at each other for awhile, until I asked her where her family was and she ran off following the fence down the rural road.  I looked around and saw no other deer nearby so I sent up a quick prayer for her safety... a human praying for another mother's child.  :)

I wonder if he was her father... or an uncle, perhaps?  One evening at dusk, Christopher and I had stopped to pull into our gravel road when in the distance I saw him... standing in the middle of the road... a mist surrounding him making his appearance almost ghost-like...  so much so I asked Christopher if he saw the same thing I did or was it my overactive imagination.  Had I a glimpse into another time and place... an Eden in the midst?

No, my son saw him, too.  A tall buck with a rack of antlers, both so big it took my breath away.  Just standing in the middle of the road looking towards our car, no fear in his eyes.  He acted as one who was accustomed to being honored and admired.  He was the king of their domain.  He was fabulous.

This morning I thought of him again as I walked down the county road, further into the forest and close to where he had been standing in the mist.  Scissors in hand, I was out to snip Queen Anne's Lace for a bouquet.   It grows wild along the country roads.  I can't say I enjoyed the walk for there is that whole Bigfoot thing.  I know, there has never been a sighting here but then again... how many people have seen ghostly bucks?

5 comments:

Jodi said...

Hello, fellow Took! Thanks for visiting my blog, and I'm certainly glad to have found yours. I liked your post. Have you ever seen albino deer? That's something I've been wanting to see.

Stickhorsecowgirls said...

About six years ago, on Halloween night, an enormous book with HUGE antlers leapt across the road right in the beam of my headlights. I still do not know how I avoided hitting him. It was definitely eerie and ghost-like; he looked like a flying reindeer!

Heather @ Simple Wives said...

I love to see deer standing in the distance, espeically those that don't appear to be afraid. I love your account...I was sure I was reading from a book.

Kay said...

Not a ghostly buck but I've seen deer often up the hill just west of our driveway, silhouetted by the setting sun. Wonderfully, wildly beautiful. (however my Farmer doesn't agree...they eat too much of his corn & soybeans.)

Vee said...

Have you been reading too much Goudge? ;> This was so lovely I had to comment...Perhaps you've been reading too much Felix Salten on the other hand.