Weblog 189
September 20, 2009~ 12:00am
Sometimes... after great sadness... there are miraculous gifts of joy that pop up out of the blue. My grandchildren - always manage to bring that gift to me, but now and again it's something in the natural world that is simply... exhilaratingly... happy.
On Friday evening when Wayne and I pulled into the carport
a family of deer began to appear through the brush on the hillside beyond the trolley tracks. I've been seeing these guys most evenings, usually in two's and three's-- one or two babies and their mother.
But Friday... they kept a-comin', till there were SEVEN in all.....
chomping on the leaves of a felled tree. (Why someone cut down that little sumac is a mystery to me. Have no idea who did it. Maybe Port Authority determined it was twisting through the electric trolley lines) but the deer sure loved that 'close to the ground', green salad. They're so graceful. This shot shows their curved necks and lovely form very much like cave-painting creatures....
the bend of the neck, the slope of dancer-bodies bent, and happily eating. This guy's a latecomer, but determined to have a seat at the feast.
What we witnessed early on, was the first little fawn trotting warily out of the thicket. Then another one.... and then, about 20 feet away on the other side of the tree, the mother, staring intently at them and seeming to communicate through mother's ESP, telling the little ones to join her, which they did. It soon became apparent why she called them-- as we immediately saw one small fawn tugging at her teats, and then the other one began suckling. Her belly looked swollen. She must have given birth recently (or was due again) --but it was definitely clear it was feeding time and she needed them to nurse. If you look closely, you'll see a wee one and the mother right in the center, still nuzzling at her as the sibling munched on the tree.
They continued to come out of the brush, seeing dinner was served, expertly picking their way down through the blooming golden rod and late summer foilage.
It was a most delightful surprise, to see that party going on just over the tracks, those deer calm as you please, as though they were in the middle of nowhere, nothing to bother them. Every time a trolley passed, they'd stop, big ears up, quietly chomping and watching. It was a lovely backdrop for Beethoven's grave...
which is just at the base of the wooden retaining wall, cat statue looking out. I believe our boy would have loved watching them. I used to pull a dining room chair over to the screen door so he could sit and watch the birds.... so I know those deer would have entertained him, alright. Perhaps he knows.... is still part of our world and close, right out there in the backyard amid the things he loved to watch. (I like to think so, anyway. Such thoughts are comforts.) And we all need miracles like deer coming near our homes to show us all the splendor of wild things-- gentle and even-tempered and good.
And on Saturday evening, I took Bill and Kay's Halloween costumes that I'd ordered from Lillian Vernon, to give to them. (Kay's been waiting on her 'Toto in a basket' and her Dorothy outfit.) As it turns out, the jumper is GLITTERY sapphire blue-- as is the bow and hair band. With her ruby-sequined slippers, Kay may be the first Diva Dorothy in history! And Bill's been counting the days to see his Jango Fett costume, complete with Blaster! LOL!!
The silver parts are rubbery-soft, and he looked remarkable in it....like he'd stepped right out of central casting to show himself off in front of George Lucas himself (and he would have been impressed! ) Holly already has the house decorated spookily. Happy pumpkins on the steps, and giant spider webs on the walls, and talking witches. Really cheered me up. The 'kid in me' truly comes out at this time of year. "Lions and tigers and bears....ghoulies and ghosties and bats......OH MY!"
I'm also getting very excited about our trip to Gettysburg on Tuesday. It's supposed to rain all week there....but I don't care. I'll dig out my poncho, take extra socks for wet feet, an big old umbrella, and my camera at the ready. Four years is a long time to be away from a place we used to visit three times per year for well over a decade, so it will be a wonderful homecoming. I'm anxious to see the new Visitor's Center, but I have to confess that I loved the old one. It was always the first place we'd stop- couldn't wait to check out the new books in the book store. Oh well.....everything evolves and changes. Just gotta roll with it, and who knows....we may be pleasantly surprised.
***
(Return To Weekly Archives)
Sometimes... after great sadness... there are miraculous gifts of joy that pop up out of the blue. My grandchildren - always manage to bring that gift to me, but now and again it's something in the natural world that is simply... exhilaratingly... happy.
On Friday evening when Wayne and I pulled into the carport
a family of deer began to appear through the brush on the hillside beyond the trolley tracks. I've been seeing these guys most evenings, usually in two's and three's-- one or two babies and their mother.
But Friday... they kept a-comin', till there were SEVEN in all.....
chomping on the leaves of a felled tree. (Why someone cut down that little sumac is a mystery to me. Have no idea who did it. Maybe Port Authority determined it was twisting through the electric trolley lines) but the deer sure loved that 'close to the ground', green salad. They're so graceful. This shot shows their curved necks and lovely form very much like cave-painting creatures....
the bend of the neck, the slope of dancer-bodies bent, and happily eating. This guy's a latecomer, but determined to have a seat at the feast.
What we witnessed early on, was the first little fawn trotting warily out of the thicket. Then another one.... and then, about 20 feet away on the other side of the tree, the mother, staring intently at them and seeming to communicate through mother's ESP, telling the little ones to join her, which they did. It soon became apparent why she called them-- as we immediately saw one small fawn tugging at her teats, and then the other one began suckling. Her belly looked swollen. She must have given birth recently (or was due again) --but it was definitely clear it was feeding time and she needed them to nurse. If you look closely, you'll see a wee one and the mother right in the center, still nuzzling at her as the sibling munched on the tree.
They continued to come out of the brush, seeing dinner was served, expertly picking their way down through the blooming golden rod and late summer foilage.
It was a most delightful surprise, to see that party going on just over the tracks, those deer calm as you please, as though they were in the middle of nowhere, nothing to bother them. Every time a trolley passed, they'd stop, big ears up, quietly chomping and watching. It was a lovely backdrop for Beethoven's grave...
which is just at the base of the wooden retaining wall, cat statue looking out. I believe our boy would have loved watching them. I used to pull a dining room chair over to the screen door so he could sit and watch the birds.... so I know those deer would have entertained him, alright. Perhaps he knows.... is still part of our world and close, right out there in the backyard amid the things he loved to watch. (I like to think so, anyway. Such thoughts are comforts.) And we all need miracles like deer coming near our homes to show us all the splendor of wild things-- gentle and even-tempered and good.
And on Saturday evening, I took Bill and Kay's Halloween costumes that I'd ordered from Lillian Vernon, to give to them. (Kay's been waiting on her 'Toto in a basket' and her Dorothy outfit.) As it turns out, the jumper is GLITTERY sapphire blue-- as is the bow and hair band. With her ruby-sequined slippers, Kay may be the first Diva Dorothy in history! And Bill's been counting the days to see his Jango Fett costume, complete with Blaster! LOL!!
The silver parts are rubbery-soft, and he looked remarkable in it....like he'd stepped right out of central casting to show himself off in front of George Lucas himself (and he would have been impressed! ) Holly already has the house decorated spookily. Happy pumpkins on the steps, and giant spider webs on the walls, and talking witches. Really cheered me up. The 'kid in me' truly comes out at this time of year. "Lions and tigers and bears....ghoulies and ghosties and bats......OH MY!"
I'm also getting very excited about our trip to Gettysburg on Tuesday. It's supposed to rain all week there....but I don't care. I'll dig out my poncho, take extra socks for wet feet, an big old umbrella, and my camera at the ready. Four years is a long time to be away from a place we used to visit three times per year for well over a decade, so it will be a wonderful homecoming. I'm anxious to see the new Visitor's Center, but I have to confess that I loved the old one. It was always the first place we'd stop- couldn't wait to check out the new books in the book store. Oh well.....everything evolves and changes. Just gotta roll with it, and who knows....we may be pleasantly surprised.
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