Dark of the Moon

It is that time, a scant few hours before down that is absent most life. The vampires are headed quietly to bed. The werewolves are tucked snuggly in their human forms with the full moon a distant future. This only leaves the idiot deer out for a stroll down from the hills. They wander down through Codornices Park and out into our neighborhood at Eunice and Euclid. Not completely stupid, they are trading the hills, picked over vegetation and mountain lions for groomed lawns and gardens.

“Deer in the headlights” is not just an expression. When hit suddenly with light in the pre-dawn hours they freeze followed by a mad dash in a random direction. That direction can and does include straight into whatever car startled them in the first place. Not being a fan of deer as hood ornaments or grill decorations my instinct was to slam on the brakes while hitting the horn. Normally I am not a fan of disturbing my neighbors before 0515 in the morning. But cleaning deer guts off the car is not exactly something I had scheduled into my plans for the day.

Luck was with me. The lead deer veered off at the last minute with the rest of the thundering pests right on his tail. I was left with an excess of adrenalin. Making it the last few blocks up the hill to the house, I parked and climbed out on trembling legs.

I have finally found a positive thing about living on a hill. By the time I had climbed the hill followed by the stairs to the house my shakes had completely worn off. Going back to bed looked really good about then.

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About Holly

fiber person - knitter, spinner, weaver who spent 33 years being a military officer to fund the above. And home. And family. Sewing and quilting projects are also in the stash. After living again in Heidelberg after retiring (finally) from the U.S. Army May 2011, we moved to the US ~ Dec 2015. Something about being over 65 and access to health care. It also might have had to do with finding a buyer for our house. Allegedly this will provide me a home base in the same country as our four adult children, all of whom I adore, so that I can drive them totally insane. Considerations of time to knit down the stash…(right, and if you believe that…) and spin and .... There is now actually enough time to do a bit of consulting, editing. Even more amazing - we have only one household again. As long as everyone understands that I still, 40 years into our marriage, don't do kitchens or bathrooms. For that matter, not being a golden retriever, I don't do slippers or newspapers either. I don’t miss either the military or full-time clinical practice. Limiting my public health/travel med/consulting and lecturing to “when I feel like it” has let me happily spend my pension cruising, stash enhancing (oops), arguing with the DH about where we are going to travel next and book buying. Life is good!
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16 Responses to Dark of the Moon

  1. Kathy says:

    Glad you are OK!

  2. Chere says:

    Agreed, on ALL points. My local hunter took his 4th “prize” from the back yard a couple of days ago and they do get the idea after a while. Instead of the full herd we used to get on a nightly basis, the adult max is 2-3, not counting infants with no experience to learn from

  3. Alison says:

    Glad you were safe!

  4. Mark Hammer says:

    Not enough hunters any more.

    • Holly says:

      too may bleeding heart liberals who feed the stupid things. And not enough wolves and mountain lions.

  5. Donna says:

    My closest encounter was with an elk at the entrance to Crater National Park. With not a tree or shrub in sight for miles, driving through the crater to the museum at the prescribed 25mph speed limit, I was totally taken off guard when an elk darted over a small mound (which had evidently hidden his presence) and froze what seemed like inches from my bumper. If not for my quick reaction to steer in the opposite direction, I am sure explaining how I did not see a brown elk against the brown barren landscape would have been quite embarrassing, (not to mention how terrible I would have felt). We had lots of deer in this area 20 years ago. Alas, now all the construction has driven them out. You are blessed to still be close enough to an environment that still has abundant wildlife.

  6. Holly says:

    no one wants to have a close encounter with any kind of 4-footed hoofed beast. Glad you survived that one!
    Personally I would be glad to do without them here. disease vectors…. Bring back the mountain lions and wolves, please!

  7. Steven says:

    Have you ever seen what kind of damage a deer can do to a car? I remember an acquaintance of mine hit one on Carmel Valley Road many years ago and totaled it!

    • Holly says:

      yes, I have along with the damage that happens to the person inside the vehicle. Of course, hitting a moose or elk would be worse, but we don’t have them around here….

  8. Pat says:

    The deer have invaded our town, too, with a few that live in my yard and make it impossible to grow anything edible. They even nibble on my rhododendrons. They lurk in my driveway, block the door to my house, threaten to attack my dog and myself and my son, and generally drive me crazy. A couple weeks ago a friend was giving me a ride, and when he pulled into our driveway the deer fled, tails up and flagged. He was rather impressed, given that I live RIGHT ON A MAJOR ROAD and 3/4 of a block from another. You have my sympathies.

    • Holly says:

      definite lack of mountain lions and wolves. Failing that – at least a bow & arrow season needs to happen on a regular basis

  9. Ann says:

    What were you doing up at that time of the morning?

    I’ve seen herds of deer roaming around DC, and of course Maine, but so far, not Newton.

  10. Carmen says:

    Ha!

    Your message ended up in the junk folder for no particular reason. Maybe because you mentioned vampires? Yeah, that must be it.

    I don’t usually have enough warning to hit the horn for deer. I am thankful not to have hit any. The last pair came prancing out of the dark woods across a freeway exit ramp. The only reason I didn’t hit them is their lucky timing. There was a car in front of me and one behind.

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