Oh Deer

"Like a child standing in a beautiful park with his eyes shut tight, there's no need to imagine trees, flowers, deer, birds, and sky; we merely need to open our eyes and realize what is already here, who we already are - as soon as we stop pretending we're small or unholy." —
Bo Lozoff

In a list of things that make me happy, seeing deer would rank up there. I know they are considered a nuisance and a problem in many areas, but there is just something about their velvet eyes and gentle expressions that seem to draw me in. Recently, I have been stopping in a forest preserve on the way to school to just randomly take pictures. There is a lake in one of the places I stop and it's always a surprise what I find there (and who as well...there are some unusual characters in these preserves early in the morning). One morning as I drove along the wooded road toward the lake, I could see some deer across the lake eating. I was thrilled because they always seem to run away when I see them from the car. So I parked and started taking some pictures of them from my jeep. I'm snapping away happily- from quite a distance and figured I got my shots of deer. I decided to get going and went to turn the car around and ...(see below)

...there not more than about 10 feet away to my left was a lone deer munching away contentedly. I almost laughed out loud but was afraid I'd scare it. Here I was craning to get some shots from across a lake and one was almost in my front seat. He (or she- no idea) posed for some pictures before he/she decided to wander away somewhere else...

On my way home from school that very afternoon there is a stretch of road with preserves on either side and I noticed that there was a herd of deer right along one of the little roads off the main road. So I quickly did a u-turn and pulled in to see what I could see. Below are a few pictures I took. The deer were cooperating quite a bit...

This picture I included because of the unusual knot on the tree making it look like an eye. Creepy!!!