Hello, Deer

This morning my carpool duties took me up Town Farm Hill Road and then over to Weed Road and then back to Town Farm Hill. These are narrow dirt roads near my home. Fun to run on during the summer, challenging at best in winter. But they are always beautiful.

If you live in Vermont, and most especially if you live in Hartland, Vermont, I would recommend getting up just before sunrise and driving over Town Farm Hill Road, facing the rising sun. It will change your life. No really. OK, well maybe it will at least change your perspective for the day. Seeing the beauty of the earth will make you feel small, perhaps, but at the same time, the great privilege of seeing it will make you feel like one of the luckiest people on earth, if only fleetingly. It's a gift.

Now that the sun rises before carpool time, I don't get to see the purple sky changing to pink and orange on our drive over the hill. I miss it.

But today, as we were navigating the snowy drive, two deer stepped in our path. I slowed to a stop and waited for them to cross, but they only stared at us. Hesitant. Still.

I rolled down my window. I don't know why I do this whenever I see wildlife near the road, but I do. I think in some crazy way, I expect us to have a conversation. I would warn them to go back to the woods and they would tell me how lovely the weather is.

Instead, they sniffed the air and watched, and we watched, too. They blinked. And we blinked. The quiet surrounded us as we studied each other. Branches cracked in the woods beyond, and birds tweeted overhead. But we stayed quiet, waiting for each others' next move.

You're looking-well fed for February. I'm glad to see it.

We ate bark for breakfast. We sure miss apple season.

Are you going to cross the road?

We aren't sure. No. I think we'll stay on this side. Bye.

Bye.

And off they went, into the snowy woods, silent, silent silent.

I rolled up my window and off we went, too, in my tiny red car.

As we drove along, slipping here and there, three cars came up behind me. Was I driving too slow? Maybe. They seemed in a great hurry to get somewhere. Maybe they were late for work. Maybe if they'd gotten up earlier, they would have seen the sunrise. But instead, they were pushing the limits of getting too close on the slippery, snowy road, trying to hurry me along.

I wanted to stop and have a conversation with them, too.

Hey! Don't you know how lucky you are, to be barreling along on this gorgeous, peaceful road? Don't you know what a privilege it is? Couldn't you slow down just a little bit? You'll be amazed by what you've been missing.

But then I imagined them saying

!&%^$#!

So I kept driving along at my own pace instead.

Sometimes it's best to limit conversation to the deer.

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Monday Morning Warm-Up:

Have a conversation with wildlife. What would you say to the bird or squirrel outside your window?