Deer drive

I took my eldest daughter on a deer watching drive through the country tonight.  She wasn't impressed.  I thought maybe I stood a chance at creating some of the memories I shared in an entry about the country roads of my childhood.  Didn't happen.  We saw a scrawny raccoon, some trumpeter swans, but no deer.  The oldest carrier of my genes somehow missed the nature-loving genetic trait her mother and I both possess - we probably could have been swept away by a deer stampede and she still would have given only a "meh".

Today nature officially left behind the quiescent days of winter.  Temps near sixty degrees and bright sunshine burned away much of the snow pack.....leaving behind much more of the snow pack, but it was a start.  Birdsong, which until now has quavered with shivers, seemed stronger and more cheerful today.  The melting snow began the day as trickling currents, but those trickles soon became streams which soon became rivers.  The walking paths around town were busy (darn it) with sufferers of cabin fever who were starting to walk away their layer of winter....insulation.  Four days ago in the midst of a 30 hour snowfall it seemed I was living in a white apocalypse with little to no activity from nature or man.

Naturally, pun intended, the drive back to my home without my daughter was far more eventful than the original deer drive.  Deer everywhere.  Apparently the deer around here are on a very strict time schedule for feeding; on a similar drive home two nights ago there were deer in every field shortly after 8:00.  Tonight my daughter was with me until about 7:55.  When I  passed the seventh or eighth quaternate group of whitetails I looked at the clock to discover I was now driving after 8:00.  How come I can pattern deer in April while driving a car but can't do it in November while hunting?

Ok, so this wasn't much of an entry......but I squeezed in three 'q' words!  Deserves a little lovin' for that fact alone, does it not?