My Neighbors

I have learned that sitting out on the back deck as the day cools down in the late afternoon is a good idea.  Not only does it actually get cooler so that sitting outside is now a pleasure, but one also gets to meet the neighbors.

The first neighbor to put in an appearance was a young doe who gave new meaning to the name for the ground cover behind the house.  It's known as deer feed and it certainly is.  She stayed for quite a while, moving on slowly.

Yesterday, there was the usual aerial display -- mocking birds bravely chasing off a crow easily twice as big as both of them together; seagulls of course; a few swallows cruising for mosquitos; and finches.  This time there was also a rabbit, larger than the ones I'm used to from the horse farm and differently colored to blend with the browns and beiges out here.  He alternately scooted through the dunes at quite a good pace or stopped absolutely still, waiting to confirm that it was okay to check out the edibles. 

Then came the star of the show, a young buck with velvet still on his antlers.  Could have been Bambi in person.  The doe had stayed at a distance, on the far side of most of the scrubby jack pines that form lines between the house and the dunes.  This guy came much closer, starting out on the near side of those pines and moving in from there.  He actually came up onto the dune (the one the house is built backing into [if you can follow that]) so that he and I were basically on eye level with each other.  He posed beautifully and apparently found the house interesting because he and I stared at each other for a long time.  It's kind of nice when the neighbors drop by to welcome you to the neighborhood.