Sometimes I must leave home in the dark, before the sun thinks about coming out for the day. I may have been grumbling to myself about the early hour as I turned out of my subdivision street.
Something moving caught my attention, just beyond the light provided by the headlights of my car. I slowed down. Is that a dog? If it was a dog, it would be a really big dog, perhaps a Great Dane. But I don’t think we have a Great Dane around us. Maybe it’s a wolf. Do wolves live here? I don’t know. We do have foxes, but this animal was too big for a fox. As these thoughts fire through my mind, my car gets closer.
Oh my, it’s not just one! There are three! Three young deer crossed the road in front of me. I stop the car to watch. They stop to watch the car. We make eye contact. Two run ahead, but one paused to stare me down. I think the look I got was, “What are you doing out here? This is our place!” As soon as the deer sent that eye-message, it scampered off into the dark to join its friends.
Slowly I accelerated while thinking about the encounter. “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper was playing on the radio. How appropriate, I thought. Those deer just want to have fun before the world wakes up.
I often see deer trotting around our neighborhood in the early morning hours when I leave for work. It always makes me happy to see them. They always seem so fearful and jumpy, so I like your vision for them with the song. Now I’ll try to see them in a different light–out exploring on their own before others wake, just trying to have fun.
What a treat for you to see early in your day.
I love seeing deer scamper in the mornings, or even bunnies! It’s like they turn on a switch of joy that was still in “off” mode from the early bleariness!
I love that those gals got up early just to see you. They were probably wondering where you were headed so early! We saw a deer beside the road on our retreat last weekend. Always a treat to see them, but I prefer sightings that are off road to having them on the highway.
Once when we were going up the mountain to leave our valley we saw 8 deer cross the road. I counted them. I have never seen so many cross the road at one time. Not a care in the world. This was their spot and we didn’t belong.
You captured a sweet moment and were transported to their world!
I love the idea of the deer frolicking because they “just wanna have fun.”
Oh, I’ve seen that stare before and have gotten the same feeling – “why are YOU on our road?” The dusk hours are filled with these sightings and can be dangerous, but beautiful.
Nature never ceases to inspire. Love how you are always able to find the significance in a small moment.
I love that the deer gave you, Queen of the Look, a look before scampering away. Too funny!
Perfect song for those dear deer. After I see deer in the road or beside the road, I become extremely jumpy. I got hit by one once, and that is all it takes to fear those dear deer. Have a great day!
It sounds like getting up early provides some different things to enjoy!
As I read the first paragraph, I grumbled along with you about the darkness. I was rather disheartened when we turned the clocks back last week and lost the morning light that had been growing so steadily. If we hadn’t done that though, you wouldn’t have seen the deer out having fun.
Oh, so many times we have had quite a few deer in our backyard or crossing the roads in Upper Dublin. I always worry about them, especially at dawn and dusk when they seem to be on the move. Glad you had a chance to enjoy them. Just love your thought – deer just want to have fun, too!