Oh Deer!!!

  The home where I grew up, as all of my known readers know (I still think someone out there will stumble on my blog and have no clue who I am or where I come from), had a big yard with lots of woods behind it. I spent endless hours roaming the grounds and going on adventures in the woods. Within the beauty of the my outdoor playground, critters scurried everywhere. Mostly I saw squirrels; rabbit sightings were a close second and sometimes, but rarely, I would spot a deer. Those sightings were always  very "wow" moments.  Then, I grew up and one day moved to Arkansas where my current house has a  big yard (not quite as big) with woods behind it and, yes, critters scurrying everywhere.
   My dogs spend their days chasing squirrels up  trees and chasing chipmunks and lizards under rocks, spending the rest of the day barking endlessly (the neighbors love us) at the tree or the rock even though the creature has long since escaped. They never catch a thing. Well, actually, one day my big dog got out of our yard and went on an adventure of her own in the woods and actually captured her prey--some turtles. She didn't kill them, she just brought them by the front door. I watched her from the kitchen window as she laid proudly among her turtles. When one would start to stray she picked it up and brought it back to the others. The sight, if videoed and posted, would be worthy of a million hits on U Tube. That, however, has nothing to do with where I am going with this blog and most of you have heard the story of my "turtle herder" anyhow.
  So, as I was saying, where I hang my hat now is much like where I came from, at least the outside world with its nature. A big difference, however, are the deer sightings which  no longer are rare. Instead, the deer are EVERYWHERE!!!  I am not exaggerating when I say that I see deer at least 5 out of  the 7 days in the week.  Often, they are in my yard.  One evening, as I pulled into my driveway, I was looking at something in the yard.  I had pushed the garage door opener and was driving slowly and waiting for the door to go up. I turned back to look to see if the door was up and there, right in front of the garage door, stood a deer.  He did not move, he just looked at me as if to say "Oh, your home."  Then he slowly moved on over to the yard and off to the woods.
   I think deer are beautiful animals, but they are beginning to become a bit of a sore spot for me. I have learned that hosta plants are their food of choice, so the 14 varieties of hosta, that the previous owner boasted exists in my garden, when selling us the house, means nothing.  The deer love to taunt my dogs, just barely staying out of the dogs portion of the yard as if to say to them "nah, nah, nah, you can't get me," causing, yes, more barking.  And sadly, we have made two trips to the body shop and calls to the insurance agent because within just yards of our home, deer have misjudged when to cross the road.  Both times they hit our car versus our car hitting them. Their fates remaining unknown since they were able to hobble off to the woods. No longer are the sightings a "wow" moment; they now are mostly "ugg" moments.
  Except when I run (finally the blog connection). Often in the wee early hours of the morning when I hit the road for my run, I see the deer.  They never scare me (my running partners just do when they grab me because the deer have scared them).  I have found it is the deer's time for some exercise, fun and fellowship too.  One day last week I caught them playing a game of chase in the school yard that we run by. It must have been  their recess time.  On another day they were actually running down the same path as me only in the opposite direction.  We actually did not run right next to each other because they went to the right of the fork in the path and I was coming from the left (but it was close).    You rarely see one by itself, they tend to stick together, they like running buddies too.   I usually speak to them, tell them good morning and always  ask nicely (usually nicely)  not come to my yard for their meals; but I think if they could talk, they would say back to me "but you have the best variety of hosta  in town. We have tasted, 14 different kinds."  So, they continue to come and I continue to curse; but, thanks to my nifty Christmas present (remember, from my last blog),  in the morning, on my runs, I find it entertaining to spot the deer in my headlight.