July 2, 2024

Intruder

Although I woke up at five, I didn’t get out of bed until thirty minutes later. My wife, who had the day off work, was still sleeping beside me. While a day off work seemed nice, I knew she would spend the entire day studying. Next week, she would take an end of curriculum exam, so I knew she appreciated the extra time to go over the material.

The weather outside was beautiful. The grass was still wet, and the temperature was cool, even though the sun was out. Yesterday’s rainfall brought relief from a heat wave, and the news forecasted a cool, dry day, the antithesis of what a North Carolina summer usually encompassed.

Over coffee, my wife said she wanted to go for a morning walk along the main road. My back didn’t feel great, so I hesitated to go, but after thinking about it more, hanging out with my wife while walking down a country road just after sunrise sounded like the sensible thing to do. Besides, it was the nicest weather we would have for a while, so skipping out on the outdoor time would’ve been a missed opportunity.

Before walking, we went outside to the backyard with the dogs and discovered something concerning. We found a section of the chain-link fence knocked over, lying flat on the ground. A part of the wired fence was bent open where something either got caught or used the opening to escape the yard.

In the mud near the fence, there were two or three smeared tracks resembling some type of hoof print. They didn’t look like the distinct deer tracks we saw everywhere, so that was puzzling. I remembered when I woke up; the dogs were excited and Bodhi was eager to get out the back door. They must have heard what was going on.

My wife found several reddish hairs on the ground, that made us think a deer had hit the fence and knocked it over. The dogs glued their noses to the ground, and my beloved Axel exited the yard to go check out the woods despite my calls, which got him grounded for a week with no electronics.

A deer was smart enough to understand the dogs couldn’t get out of a fence, and would often feed nearby, even if the dogs were outside. They also knew not to enter an area where predators were present, so I wondered why one jumped into the yard last night. My wife and I picked up the fencing and secured it. After, we left the house for our walk.

The weather was cool, and there was plenty of shade along the way. Happy to be outside, we talked excitedly as we headed toward the main road. When we passed a neighbor’s house, we could see the opposite side of the tree line that bordered our property. There along the trees in an empty field, a doe and her fawn were relaxing. The fawn walked around perusing the menu of various greens while mamma was lying down and resting.

Along the road, several songbirds chirped. I noted a large mockingbird that, while flying in front of us, sang a variety of tunes without missing a beat. We looked for Garbage along the way, but didn’t see the cat this morning. A lady drove past us doing at least seventy miles per hour. That made us super happy. I always enjoyed returning to our property from the main road. Even if the surrounding area was sunny, the tall pines from the grove always shaded our property.

When we returned, we drank another cup of coffee while my wife munched on a small bowl of cereal. We kept stepping outside to enjoy the amazing weather while it was here. My wife reported a fawn was sprinting around the pasture and jumped over the fence into the tree line at an incredible height. After, I saw a young buck running and jumping, too, playing with his new sibling. The buck’s antlers had grown substantially since last week.

My wife sat down to study while I got ready for work. While my workday started off busy, the afternoon was pretty quiet. Several people had taken vacation to lengthen the July fourth holiday. I was excited I didn’t need to work on Thursday or Friday, and a four-day weekend sounded grand.

Later in the day, my wife left to run errands in Wilson. When she returned, we ate lunch on the deck, enjoying the beautiful day. While eating, we watched a flock of small gray birds sunning. They would fly down and land on the roof of the shed, which was hot from the sun. Then they would lie flat, spreading their wings, and fanning out their feathers where they remained still for twenty or thirty seconds. After, they would fly off, and then return to do it again. While birds sunned for various reasons, the major benefit was that the roof’s heat ridded the birds’ feathers of mites. Nature was so intelligent.

While I worked, my wife studied the entire day. When I was almost done, I saw she was sleeping in the hammock, and I was happy she was getting some rest. When she awoke, we shared slices of watermelon doused with freshly squeezed lemon juice while sitting outside. A little later, our new mattress for the spare bedroom arrived. The delivery people were on the ball, and the mattress and adjustable frame were easy to set up. The mattress was super comfortable, and we were happy with our purchase.

In the evening, my wife baked snickerdoodle cookies, and we snacked on them before having an amazing tostada dinner. Tired from the day, we both prepared for bed. When I was about to jump in the shower, my phone vibrated. My wife had sent me a long video of the doe with her twin fawns. They were all walking across and playing in the pasture. I was happy to hear my wife’s two minute narration and I could tell she was just as in love with nature as I was.