It’s a bit like life, isn’t it? You can’t fix everything or help everyone, so you have to fix or help the one thing you can do something about. I can’t water the forest. I can’t make it rain, but I can water that fern. So I did. Let me try and not make it any more complicated than that.
Is it this drought, I wonder, that has the deer so close and so unwary around the cabin? The other morning, the big doe stood not more than 25-30 feet away and watched as I fed the chickens. She didn’t even twitch her tail. She is a big girl, huge even, clearly the leader of the little group of a spring fawn and two small buck that travel with her. She may well be the largest doe I have ever seen, dwarfing the two four-points that are probably only yearlings. I hope she survives the upcoming deer season. She is wise compared to the younger deer around her and knows what food can be found and where during this dry period. The other deer all take their cues from her. She calmly feeds nearby, so they are willing to feed just outside the door of the cabin as well, if not so calmly. I'd love to know how old she is. How many years does it take for a deer to become the wise one in her group? Two? Four? Do many of them live any longer than that? She seems healthy and vital, not an old one that might not survive the upcoming winter. I will never know the answers, of course. So I just watch her and try to learn a few of her secrets.
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3 comments:
That fern is worth watering if only because it creates such a pretty picture for you!
Carolyn: I had three Common Nighthawks cruising my meadows last evening (10/2/13). This is about 4-6 weeks later than I've ever observed them before! Neat!
Wonderful philosophy! We do have to make choices (sometimes hard ones) about what to water.
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