One Year Ago Today

Thomas Wolfe wrote

‘You can’t go home again’

~ and yet here I am

This past year has been filled 

with masks and distancing

isolating myself and Zooming

Walking on new paths around 

a lake instead of by the ocean

Free reigning rabbits instead of deer, arrogant Canada geese instead of prideful peacocks

One year ago today

I turned over my apartment keys,

said good bye to friends new and old

to return to my prairie home to

renew, rebuild relationships with 

precious family and dear friends.

“There is a kind of magicness about going far away

 and then coming back all changed.”

~ Kate Douglas Wiggin, New Chronicles of Rebecca

A Change in Scenery

out my living room window 

from island west to prairie broad, a change in scenery arises 

from squirrels and deer 

to rabbits and geese

urbanized wildlife pokes and 

nibbles at grass and shrubs

only scampering away when 

threatened by my tap on the window

“Yet wild things have a far more rational fear of us than is ours of them……”

~ Angela Carter, the Bloody Chamber and Other Stories

Stumped

I’m so incredibly late with this post! I started this story late this morning, but had a luncheon engagement with an old friend. Now home (it was a long and chatty lunch) I fixed a few things and added some others. The picture is one I painted in 2006 when I was experimenting with new activities. I’ve always liked this funny guy and thought it deserved a story. Do hope you enjoy it!

I painted this
watercolour in 2006

Stumped

“ What do you think? Should we take it down just to make a clean sweep of things?”

“Oh, let’s just leave it as stump. It will just shrivel and die. The boss won’t care. He wants the big bushy stuff. We’d just have to leave this one behind anyway.”

The very much shorter tree really didn’t look particularly upset and was really not that old. At least not according to the birds, squirrels and deer that were in the forest on the edge of the clear cut land. They had watched as he was brought down by a passing chainsaw wielded by the tired and careless loggers. The young tree hadn’t ducked fast enough ~ well he couldn’t. Trees ~ even young supple ones ~ can’t duck. They may bend in a pushy wind, but just can’t get out of the way of passing chainsaws.  So, the stalwart little tree was just a whole lot shorter. He wasn’t down for the count though. Yes, branches had been almost completely stripped of needles and it was the only fir tree left standing in the wide empty swath. ‘It doesn’t matter.’ said the little tree to his forest friends. ‘My roots are strong and my sap still flows. Most of my branches have been demolished, but when spring comes there will be new shoots and fresh needles. My branches will welcome tiny birds. For now, my bark will be home to a few bugs. The spaces at my feet are for daffodils and crocus.’  

Once the loggers had gathered all their equipment and roared away in their smelly machines, deer, birds and squirrels edged carefully out of the forest. Deer nibbled the last of the green needles. Squirrels scurried up and around what was left of the tree trunk. Juncos and sparrows crowned the bare branches. It really didn’t matter because they were still all together.

“All stories are true. But some of them never happened.”

~ James A. Owen,  The Search for the Red Dragon

Author's note: Edited April 15, 2024

Nature View

Victoria has a plethora of urban wildlife. I’ve often mentioned that I see deer, squirrels and raccoons in and around my patio. Yesterday morning, as I sat at my desk writing in my journal, I glanced up at my window. A slight movement had caught my eye. There, sitting as peaceful you please, was a fawn. I recalled the few details of deer behaviour that I knew. The doe hides her fawn in a sheltered place while she goes off to forage. This was the thought that went through my head, and it may in fact have been true. The fawn barely moved when I tapped on the window to get a better ‘nature view’ for my iPhone. After too many taps, the fawn, three to four months old got up stiffly, licked at a

spot on its side and moved away. The next I saw, the fawn was lying quietly in front of my patio, protected by the foliage there. Over an hour and a half I watched the fawn becoming concerned. I spoke with SPCA Wildlife, who told me that a doe would ‘hide’ her fawn for up to two hours. As I was on the phone, the fawn got up again and stiffly walked away. I’ve not seen it since. My hope was that any injury the fawn may have had was minor. The SPCA did assure me that deer heal incredibly quickly. Did the doe return? Questions that will never be answered, as I have not seen any deer since.

*******

Today at 05:45am - When I opened my curtains to my patio this morning, I thought to myself - ‘I hope my little fawn isn’t there.’ No sooner did I have that thought when I saw the fawn curled up between the two plants, looking perky and content. I quickly turned out my lights and got my camera.

06:15 - my movements must have suggested the fawn was not in the safest place. A wise move, as the yard care folks may be here today with their noisy machines.

If I see it again and it's condition is deteriorating there will be another call to SPCA Wildlife. The fawn does look like it's doing ok. 

“In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.”

~ Aristotle

SPCA Wildlife ph. number - 1-855-622-7722

*wikihow.pet - information about age of fawns

 Author's note:  

Update one week later: did not see the fawn again so can only hope it survived it's possible injuries.

Despite

Despite a more than occasional nibble from passing deer and brisk west winds threatening to blow delicate flowers away, a quite cool June has melted into the heat of July reviving my little ‘vegetable garden’. Baby tomatoes, one jalapeño (there were two more) and a couple of beans have hesitantly grown with more promised. I do believe that some mesh and my bamboo fencing have deterred most of the deer croppings. After all, there is quite a buffet in Victoria besides my little bit of greenery. Keeping the soil moist annoys squirrels, but does prevent small craters from appearing out of nowhere. Despite these little challenges, I am still committed to picking my own vegetables from my own small garden.

“The garden suggests there might be a place where we can meet nature halfway.”

~ Michael Pollan

A Risky Journey

A fresh new bean shoot

Always a risk

to climb higher each day,

vining around supports with

no knowledge

if a deer's razor sharp teeth will 

nip the steady climb toward sunshine,

no knowledge 

of cloud cover or wind

that may slow upward progress.

Taking a risk anyway ~

the only task for seeds

planted in moist, dark soil.

“A seed, after all, is an embryo, a potential plant waiting 

for its moment to grow. It has what it needs to begin. 

But it can also put itself on pause. It can wait.”

~ Robert Krulwich, journalist

Interrupted

Being an urban deer is not the easiest thing. Having a delicious

brunch in this lovely new grass in this particular shady spot set me up for any passersby with their click click whirrs. Cars whizzing by at least didn’t stop. They’re just noisy, but I’m used to their rumble and grumble. As long as I don’t hear them screeching. Always suggests I’m in a really bad place. I thought if I just kept on eating, the two humans that stopped and crept toward me would get bored and move away. But, oh no. I should have known better. My mother warned me. One human on the hard walking side and another sneaking up through the grass just before the trees. They probably didn’t think I was paying attention. They seem pretty harmless so I’ll just go back to this really, really quality grass. They can keep walking or not. I’m hungry.

“Circumstances may cause interruptions and delays, 

but never lose sight of your goal.”

~ Mario Andretti