Date with Deer

Mike's prize lettuces were being munched.  He actually saw a couple of deer crossing the road, heading toward his garden yesterday as he was driving to work.  Then, it was too late to swing by the feed store to get the deer repellent after he got off.  Would I...?  Well, I started living in the apartment upstairs in his house partly so I could help out, and I could indeed go get the deer repellent.  But for one more  morning the lettuces would be vulnerable.

Endangered Lettuces

Deer are pretty shy, I was thinking, so I offered to go sit by the lettuces at the appropriate hour of the gray light of dawn.  He had seen them crossing the road at 6:00, pretty early for me, but not unmanageable...
So I got up, put on warmish clothes, made coffee, got a flashlight just in case, gathered up my folding chair, and headed out in the earliest morning twilight.  "Probably they'll smell you and stay away," he had said.  I tried to think smelly thoughts as I sat in the quiet garden.

It was a wonderfully peaceful time. A rooster crowed in the distance.  The horses in the neighbors' pasture started waking up, making little horsey snuffling noises, birds flew quietly. Gradually the light increased, bringing colors to the streaks of clouds in the Eastern sky. Full light and more cars going by as people got going for the day.  I decided the deer were probably not coming  this morning, and went in for a little, then back out to walk around and take some pictures.  The sun is still not over the mountain, but I believe my date with deer is over.

Coming Dawn