Yesterday, before noon, in broad daylight, I was sitting in my chair outside, relaxing with a crossword puzzle, when I sensed something moving right beside me. For a moment I thought it was a big dog; but when I turned my head, I saw it was a deer. She jogged right past me, almost close enough to touch, and disappeared around the far corner of the building.
She didn’t make a sound, and was so light on her feet that she appeared to be floating on the air.
A minute later my neighbor came walking up, from the same direction as the deer.
“Did you see the deer that passed here, just a minute ago?” I asked.
“I followed it into the parking lot,” he said. “Just before that, it was following a woman who was walking her dog. I heard her say to the dog, ‘We’ve got to walk faster.'”
To me it was a special moment–an Obann moment, if you will. If you’ve been reading my books, you know there are a lot of strange animals moving into that country, sent by God from parts unknown. A deer in your yard, here in the Jersey suburbs, is almost as unusual a sight as the knuckle-bears in Lintum Forest. Almost like the stories I’ve been telling come to life.
I won’t forget it. Thank you, Lord–I take it as a sign that you know my work and have blessed it.
Very cool. I know the floods here in Fort Smith, AR have cause the deer population a lot of confusion so they have been hanging our in groups along the levees.
We have a lot of deer that just roam around our town(it’s pretty small), but I’ve never had one walk right by me! That’s pretty cool!
I’m hardly a fan of Arizona, but I have to admits that our fauna is outstanding. Seeing deer is a daily event for me; it’s not uncommon for there to be a herd in my yard any time of the night or day. I’ve gotten within 10-20 feet on several occasions and I find it interesting that the fawns are more skittish than the adults, some of whom will stand their ground until you can all but touch them.
Yesterday, I went for a bike ride, and just up the street were about 5 or 6 deer. Most of the younger ones slipped away, but one, apparently the matron of the herd, stayed beside the road until I was just a few feet away, then bounded off.
On one of my walks I whistled “Revive Us Again” to a couple of deer who listened very politely, standing just a few yards away. If I’d sung it they would’ve run away.
Deer are funny that way; they just don’t have any appreciation of great singing.
WOW! That’s really cool! I would like to have an Obann moment someday…
Hey, you live in Japan! And the Japanese giant salamander lives in Japan. Do you know what I’d give to see one of **those**? I’ve got no shot at it, but you do. That’s an Obann moment no one would ever forget!
I’ve never seen one myself, but if I do, I will be grateful for the Obann moment given to me by God!
Make sure you’ve got a camera with you!
OK! That would be a great blog post!