May 29, 2024
Spring Growth
My wife and I woke up feeling ready for the day, happy to wake up together. Was this really life from now on? After two years of sporadic and extended separations, this new life of togetherness felt like heaven on earth. We drank coffee together and then my wife ate breakfast while I sat down to write. After she left for work, I headed out into the forest for my morning walk.
This morning, shade covered the forest. On the trail, I noticed tracks made by the pointed hooves of several deer cut deep into the trail. I was excited to go to the creek where I recently found the wood ducks. Now that I had seen them with my own eyes, photographing them seemed like a more attainable goal. I started stalking the area from further away, moving more slowly to mask any noise and visible movements. These ducks were hypersensitive. This morning, the ducks were not there.
The air in the forest felt cooler, even comfortable. As I moved toward the central part of the property, a deer barked at me, flashing through the forest, its shadowy figure darting through the trees. The deer had come from the direction of the trailhead I used and had probably been watching me since the start of my walk.
The cicadas were out this morning. When I heard them, I realized I had recognized their song for a few days now. I previously thought the frogs were out later than usual in the mornings and earlier in the evening. I now realized I was hearing the cicadas that recently appeared.
My boss called me before I made it out of the forest. It was still an hour before I started work, but there were some early fires to put out. I felt a little mischievous troubleshooting solutions while standing in a secluded pine grove. Thank you, Verizon, for focusing on rural areas in North Carolina. The work day turned out to be busy, and the only nature I witnessed during the morning were several deer that crossed the pasture, which I spotted through my office window.
Near the end of the workday, my wife texted she was working late. We had planned to go eat in Wilson, but a late arrival would set back our entire evening routine, so I made alternate plans. When she was about a half hour from home, I ordered a pizza and some garlic knots from Pino’s Pizza and went to pick them up. This would save us time and allow us to have a more relaxing evening.
My wife appreciated I took care of dinner plans. We ate outdoors together and the heavy mood of a long workday lifted. Dinner was fun and the light air of eating good pizza on the patio re-energized us. Axel, who had taken a liking to the pizza crust, was especially excited. The boy knew what pizza night meant for him.
In the morning and evenings, the sunlight looked soft and often backlit the trees or birds, making them look even more appealing. Photographers were always searching out this soft golden light. While eating dinner, my wife announced a beautiful backlit view, pointing away from the deck. When I turned around, I saw a large glob of dog hair floating gently on a spring breeze, perfectly backlit by the golden sun. The whole thing was so funny, I almost spit out my pizza.
After dinner, my wife and I took a walk into the woods together. When we headed out the front door, there was a herd of deer feeding in the pasture. They looked up at us with a curious expression. We said hello and moved into the grove for our walk while they stood guard in the pasture.
The forest was growing dark while we made our way to Beaver Tooth Rock. There, we stopped to take in the sights, sounds, and smells. Being on this large boulder with my wife instantly brought back memories of our winter visits there. After a few minutes, we moved on toward the creek.
The water in the marsh smelled briny, like a lake. My wife noticed there were no trickling sounds coming from the water because it was low. The flow had stopped in the southern stream. When we moved back toward the house, my wife opted to take the new western trail we started working on. We still needed to connect the trail to the hidden entrance near our house, but that would have to wait for a weekend.
When we were about forty yards from our house, we saw a deer moving in the forest. I noted it was odd to see the large animal walking through the woods with our house in the scene's background. When we arrived near the tree line, my wife began searching for a large mimosa tree she had spotted from the deck. It took a few minutes, but she found a mimosa flower sitting on the forest floor. Within seconds, she had found two of the trees she loved so much.
At the end of our walk, we had arrived near the feeding area just inside the tree line. I pulled the SD card from the trail camera. We walked around the yard for a little while, checking out the mimosa trees and fireflies. After, we went back to the house, spending the end of our evening outside on the rear deck. The hoots of a barred owl interrupted our conversation. We stopped to listen to the nocturnal bird before heading inside.
At the dining room table, I pulled up the videos from the trail camera’s memory card. There were the usual highlights of squirrels opening ears of corn, tearing away the silks and eating the fresh kernels. The sneaky squirrel had a talent for stealing the corn ears and eating them away from the camera’s view.
Several deer showed up to the feeding area, and one doe ate most of the watermelon. A large raccoon selected a bit of each dish as if he was visiting a buffet. The second most interesting video was of a male and female cardinal who arrived together. The male cardinal picked up stray pieces of corn and carried them off to feed his significant other. Even male birds, it seemed, had learned the dangers of having a hungry spouse.
The best videos, by far, were of Roku, the new fawn. Although it was small, the baby deer had a healthy appearance and a beautiful coat of thick fur. The fawn made several appearances, even walking up to check out the camera a few times. My wife was getting sleepy, so she left to bathe. While I was cleaning the kitchen, I remembered I had pulled the SD card from the camera in the pine grove. Actually, I pulled it a few days ago, placing it in my shirt pocket that I later washed and dried. I wondered if I had ruined the card.
Luckily, the card worked just fine. The camera in the pine grove captured an assortment of deer, some alone, some in pairs, and others in herds of seven or eight deer. In a few of the videos, a raccoon and a rabbit were feeding with the deer. My favorite videos were of a pregnant doe. In one video, as she swallowed the corn she had been chewing, I could see the lump of food travel all the way down her neck. In another video, I saw the fawn inside her belly kicking.
I completed a few evening chores and then went to shower before crawling into bed. Today, I had seen nature’s beauty thriving in the warmth of spring. I remembered walking through the forest in late winter, noting how it looked desolate. If winter was a season of withering and falling away, then spring was one full of life and growth.