Winter Solistice

Yesterday I was walking my two dogs both large breed sport dogs, Abby and Jeppe. We had almost finished our walk when we turned a corner to go home, after sprinting up a steep but small hill, there in a stand of bushy young pine trees that are approximately 12 feet tall hiding in the dense young trees was a young buck, a two pointer with a bright white tail and a full thick coat. Now I wasn’t expecting him or him us but my female shot ahead and was running after him as he bound and leapt above her head. When I realized that the noise wasn’t the two dogs but one chasing a deer I was lucky to see it. I looked up to full body view of the young two point buck leap over and away from us as my female gave chase for a moment. My male didn’t quite register what was happening because he had his head buried into the back of my body which he does occasionally as we run up the hills. He does this and it makes me think he is pushing me or helping me run up those hills because compared to them I am very slow. So by the time he registered the deer it was way too late. This buck looked like Santa’s and it made me realize that the creator of that myth did a good job in describing the way they move. This creature shot up in the air as if defying gravity it was thrilling for the milliseconds I saw it in front of me. Later that day I took the doggies out again they do need to walk as much as possible as do I. There in the same stand of trees or bushes was a creature, something big and I suspect it was our young buck. He is now our young buck and we like him. This must be his nest and it spooked when it heard us walk back there again. It was in the exact area of where we saw him earlier. We didn’t actually see it as it shot through the stand of trees down the hill in the opposite direction as we were going. It made me squeal as we obviously disturbed him. Now I am hooked and as we went further into the woods I saw females, three of them near the part of our park I call the low land. We have a park where I live that is made up of three attached parcels of land that make up a 60 acre wood and it is all ours. I walk in it every day and I love it and realize I am lucky to have a “park’ and boy do we know it. I get to relax and enjoy nature. I am happy to announce that we share it with a big beautiful buck, and more very healthy looking deer and I bet that is why I sometimes we see proof of hunters in my wood. We have a lot of deer so I support hunting with permits of course and conservative practices. Still I am delighted to imagine that our wood is home to many beautiful creatures and what a blessing it is to share this magical wood with them. No matter how frustrated and cranky or put upon I feel I smarten up when I remember my good fortune and I have a lot but what really jolted me was seeing that creature as it shot high into the air just above my head. It was as if winter was announced as being almost here.