Oh Deer!

One of the things we've really fallen in love with at our new home is the feeling of being up in the mountains. In our old house, we considered it 'in the foothills'. If that house was in the foothills, we're now living at the mountaintop! Which is to say that we now realize the old place was not really 'in the foothills' at all. Now that we are, we certainly understand the difference.

This morning, as usual, we took Slippers to the park. (As luck would have it, there is a park just two blocks from our new home! Slippers is thrilled with this; we had a park just one block away from the old house and she loved it. Saturday and Sunday are 'park days'; we go early in the morning and allow her to be off leash -- Heaven for a curious canine =) Right at the edge of the park, I saw something move. Upon closer inspection, I saw it was a deer. I said to Kevin, 'LOOK!! A deer!'. He didn't see her at first; her fur blended in with her surroundings and she stood completely still. Then, her ear twitched and Kevin saw her. The three of us stood there for a bit watching the deer watch us. Soon a noise frightened her a bit and she began to trot up the street ... where we spied yet another deer. We watched them a few more minutes before they disappeared into a neighbors yard. What a wonderful way to start off a Sunday morning -- watching deer in your own neighborhood!!

In addition to the deer, we've discovered a family of raccoons who live nearby ... and are glad that we have Slippers water dish outside at their disposal. And then there are the coyotes. Lots and lots of coyotes. The raccoons and the coyotes are interesting creatures to watch, but we're glad to keep them at a safe distance away from us and, particularly, from Slippers.

Our neighbors have told us bear stories - literally. But we've been lucky enough to have avoided any bear sightings or contact. At least for now!