May
29
2012
I was an hundred feet away. A car in the oncoming lane flushed a deer five feet in front of it coming from his other side. It dashed into the field scared like someone or something was chasing it. I slowed down. Sometimes when a deer crosses the road there may be one or more behind it so you have to drive slowly and carefully. Not this time, though. The deer vanished quickly into the safety of the open field and woods.
May
29
2012
She talked gently to the doe. She had backed the car ten feet. “Look”, she said. On the left only five feet in was a doe. It was standing in the tall grass munching. It did not run away. The doe stood there and my wife gently and softly whispered to her at least sixty seconds. My wife commented that the deer had hundreds of flies over her rump. The deer stood there. It did not bound into the woods. Finally we drove off and last we looked it was still in the same spot.
May
24
2012
I spotted another deer at the marsh I pass from my car. It had its head down drinking the water. Every time I pass that area I look up and down the water curious each time what I may find. I do like mystery and to me the marsh is a mystery. I do not know who owns it nor what I will see if anything but I keep looking. I love surprises.
May
20
2012
I saw my first baby groundhog. In fact, there were four of them and they were scurrying to vanish into the undergrowth. They were tiny–maybe six inches long. I spotted then on my way home. I never know exactly what I will see driving home. Sometimes it is a wild turkey, a fawn or doe. I never know. It is usually when I am not paying attention. I am on the edge of country.
May
14
2012
Every time I pass that marsh on my right from my car I peer down the two different bodies of water. Sometimes I see nothing. Other times I have seen great egrets and snowy egrets at its borders. This time I saw three deer lined up in a row all the way back at the edge of the water. I had never seen deer there before. I always wondered about the owner of that piece of property. He has bird boxes in strategic spots there. I am sure he loves the property and its inhabitants. I am only briefly visiting it. I wonder if there is any fish in it. It is not mine but I love passing and looking at it. I always wonder about it.
Apr
28
2012
Last night I flushed three fawns who vanished into the field. They may have been triplets. I did not see their mom anywhere but I am sure she was nearby. I had never seen triplets before. I never know exactly what I will flush along that road although I see deer less often there than the other way I have to go into town. The juxtaposition of animals with people always amazes me.
Apr
27
2012
I made a nightly run for snacks. The convenience/gas station is open twenty-four hours. On the way home (it was dark already) I flushed a baby cottontail who ran back in the same direction he had come from. The next thing I had to do was step on my brakes suddenly to prevent myself from running over a raccoon. He was right in front of me. I even backtracked to make sure I had not run it over. I was relieved. There was no sign of him. I have to be careful driving at night. I never know what I am going to flush next. It could be a deer or turkey or groundhog or an opossum.
Jul
10
2011
We were going home from church the back way. Two fawns disappeared into the undergrowth on the right side of us. I am sure “mom” was nearby but we did not see her. I had never seen twin fawns before. I was thrilled. It was the highlight of my day. In the wintertime the town does not even plow that road when it snows. It was a little bit off the beaten path. It is not unusual to see deer in the fields there in the early morning or dusk. I never know exactly what animal I will see.
Jun
13
2011
You never know what creatures you will see around my house. Last week I flushed a deer in the woods out back. It must have been drinking water from the tiny creek there. It is not unusual to see deer in the area although that was the first time I spotted one in our yard.
A few days ago I moved my mower which was on our front porch and a two inch black toad hopped away and disappeared into a crack between the porch and wall. I had never seen one that color before although I have seen many toads of all sizes on our porch that are attracted by the bugs the porch light brings.
Just today I saw a chipmunk on the limb six feet up on a branch of our white pine viewed from (???) of our living room. Usually he is only seen scurrying on the ground helping himself to the bird seed scattered on the ground. I know they can climb but that was an unusual spot to see him. You never know what animal you are going to see. We live on the edge of the countryside.
Feb
8
2010
It happened in a blink of an eye. I was not thinking. And driving probably a little too fast on that stretch of road nearby. A deer darted in front of me from my left. I reacted instinctively and stepped on the brakes just enough to miss it by inches.
It was a stretch of the road I am usually more cautious on. Deer cross the road to drink from the small creek below. I have often flushed deer here but I was preoccupied. It was the also the middle of the day.
After that close call I was shaking. You bet I drove slower and more carefully on the way home. Your life can change in a split second. Sometimes we forget that. Angels are often watching over us.
Feb
5
2010
I guess I can’t say that any more of our county: it does not have any red lights. I used to say that our county was one of two in the state that had no red lights and the other has more deer than people. As of yesterday, I can’t say that any longer: it now has its very first red light.
Apr
24
2009
I love my local diner. For the first five and a half years I did not even set foot in it. It is a mere three miles from my house. Finally I started going there. I was waking up early and frankly was lonely. My wife was not up yet.
At first, I would just get a cup of coffee there. I was learning about the lives of the waitresses (I do not like the word server) in dribs and drabs. I learned that Sharon had almost worked there for thirty years. She loved what she did. And there was Jane and others whose lives I slowly entered.
They were making a living from serving me (and others) but it was more than that. They had running relationships with most of their customers. The local diner’s rules were pretty relaxed: I saw customers going in back of the counters and serving themselves coffee because the waitress was just too busy at the moment.
I would sit at the counter taking in all the conversations around me. You might say I was eavesdropping without being too obvious about it. I heard some big tales especially about hunting. This county shuts down when hunting season for deer starts the Monday after Thanksgiving. In fact, this state ranks two in the nation for bear hunting. Some of the tidbits and snatches of conversation I heard were fascinating.
I would not talk to too many people. I could tell some customers, particularly the men, were curious who I was. I would take my time, let them take me in. One waitress asked me if I had just moved here. It was only last summer when my town had their 200 year anniversary. I realized I had to do things a little differently if I wanted to meet people in this town.
I started watering the plants in the post office and gradually grew to know the postmaster and the other clerk: we became friends after a period of months. I would water the plants six days a week. And not only that, I would run into other people.
I started going to a local church where I felt very comfortable and met people in my community there. Going to the local diner was just another step in my involvement into the community.
Going to the diner had other ramifications: I would occasionally go to the the Susquehanna River which was less than an hundred yards away. I went there today and mist was rising in swirls from the surface of the water. It took my breath away. I have spent more time visiting the River in my town since I started going to the diner the last four weeks than in the first five and half years I have lived here. All because I am occasionally getting my morning coffee at my local diner.
It is an absolutely magnificent River. It is another world. You never know what you are going to see there. It could be a bald eagle or a great egret or some other exotic bird or creature. Usually when you least expect it. I missed having being able to walk to it which had been a five minute walk from my house in Duncannon. Now I am back. There are so many reasons visiting the diner has changed my life. Visiting The River is only one reason.
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