Doe, a Deer, a Female Deer.......

Several of them actually. It wasn't all that long ago that I had never seen a deer in Oklahoma. I guess that's not terribly unusual, we always went hunting in Texas and for years I lived in the city, and there just aren't that many deer wandering around Oklahoma City. Now that I live North of Edmond it's not all that rare for me to see some every now and then. Sometimes along the highway and sometimes in my neighborhood. Mostly when I see them it's in a little more rural setting.

It seems like that is changing though. I took this picture at I-35 and Edmond road by the frontage road there. Granted, it's not a bustling metropolis but it is busier than I would want if I were a deer. This is just about mile north of the new Wal-Mart, and just a 1/4 mile or so from a large neighborhood. Also it's not far from the fountain oaks gas station and there is quite a lot of traffic at this intersection. I saw them when I drove by and had to find a place to turn around. I turned onto the frontage road and couldn't see them so I stopped about where I thought I could get a good picture. That was about 30 yards from this group of deer in the picture. I spooked them of course and thought I'd lost the shot but I found them not far away. This is only about half of the total that I saw there. Maybe a dozen in all. Definitely the largest group of deer I have seen in Oklahoma, and they were right here in town.

One of the first deer I ever saw here in Oklahoma was near this same location. It was late the night of November 13th, 2003. I stopped at Target on the way home from my parent's house to buy ink cartridges for my printer. I had already stopped at Wal-Mart and they were out of my ink. I was printing the handout for Dad's memorial that Saturday the 15th and it was pretty important that I got what I needed that night. Target was closing, I mean they were locking the doors for the night, but they let me in to make my purchase. It had been a long frustrating week. Not much sleep for me, intense sadness, stress, I was pretty unsettled. That Tuesday morning, the 11th, when the doctor explained that the surgery was pretty traumatic and would take longer to recover, dad wanted to know just how long was longer. I think we all knew that he was asking if he would be able to make his hunting trip the following week, or lacking that, the late hunt of the year. I remember saying, "Dad, I think the deer will be safe from you this year."

Two days later, that night of November the 13th, between Target and I-35, nobody on the road but me, alone in the car, one of the first deer I ever saw in the state of Oklahoma, and by far the biggest buck, came out of the "woods" on the South side of the road and crossed the 4 lanes to the North. There was no danger of hitting him, he was a good distance away. It was cold that night, I could see his breath as he took his time crossing the road, pausing along the way to look in my direction. I've joked since then that this buck obviously knew that he was safe from dad's gun and was taunting me with that knowledge. But I've come to believe over the years since then that it was something more than that. I saw by chance a beautiful creature, one forever linked to thoughts of my dad. Whenever I think of, or see deer, I think of hunting, or going to set up to hunt, or driving around the ranch in Texas or Oklahoma, or any of a hundred other thoughts, with my dad.

I cherish these memories.

Peace,

Craig