August 19, 2001 ~ Of deer and ducks and rain
Just now I looked out the bedroom window and there were two deer looking back at me. They were in the pasture, just the other side of the garden, and I suspect they were hoping for some goodies from the plum or peach tree, but no joy. Too late in the year for that. Yesterday Larry was telling me that he never sees deer anymore, ever, but I shook my head and told him that I see them every day, every single day... they're always there. It's just that the poor guy works about twelve hours a day; no wonder he never sees them. The deer, when they realized that I'd seen them, bounded off, running and hopping and doing what deer do. Larry's out mowing the hay meadow now, and at one point the deer were directly across the fence from him -- wonder if he saw them? Maybe, maybe not. He might have been looking straight ahead, trying to mow in a straight line. That's kind of what you do.
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We have a wild mama duck and her four babies, who live down at the little pond. They are, technically speaking, brown. Larry says they could be mallards. So mallards they are, at least when I'm talking to Larry. The babies are nearly as big as the mama now, and I know that one day I'm going to go down there and find that they have flown away. It will be bittersweet. Good for the ducks, because our next door neighbor is a duck hunter, and wouldn't that be the pits? We raise 'em, he shoots 'em? I think not. Duck hunting season is coming around one of these days, in another month or two, I expect, so those ducks had better git while the gittin's good. But I will hate to see them go. Every morning for the past few weeks, I've checked on their progress, counted heads, made sure that no coyotes or bobcats or barn cats have made off with any of the precious little ones, and every morning I've breathed a sigh of relief. I will miss them when they're gone, but I don't want them to linger too long. I want them to be safe and happy ducks in some other place.
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This past week it has rained over two inches here. Two inches! In Texas! In AUGUST, mind you. I KNOW, it IS crazy, but we aren't complaining, not one bit. We've had drought conditions for so many years that I've almost gotten used to it, have almost decided that brown is the normal color for grass. Well, it's turning green. Sure is a sight to see.
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And on yet another subject, did I tell you that we talked to our soldier boy last weekend? Yes! I hadn't talked with him since MAY, so I was very excited to hear his voice.
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