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06/13/2005: "Deer Neighbor"

On my way to work this morning, I encountered a deer on the sidewalk. Seriously.

It should be noted at this point that I live in a city. Sure, we have trees. But mostly we’ve got a lot of buildings and cars. So, I haven’t the faintest idea what this full-size doe was doing walking around my neighborhood.

I was on the sidewalk of my street when a deer turned the corner and was suddenly less than a car-length away from me. She stopped. I stopped. I said, “Honey, you gotta stay out of the street” before I’d even thought about it. (Talking to animals like they can understand me is just one of the crazy things I do out of habit.)

She stared at me for a while which gave me time to notice how big she was. Her torso was about at my waist. With her neck and head she was as tall as me. I was suddenly really glad she didn’t have antlers. Still, I was thinking that if she takes it into her head to fight, it will go badly for me.

Thankfully that’s when she turned away from the street and bounded into the nearest back yard. Taking my advice to avoid the street, I noted.

I stood there for a second because I could hardly believe what just happened. I looked around to see if anyone else witnessed the meeting, but there was no one of course.

“Wow, you don’t see that every day!” I said to no one in particular as I continued my morning commute.