“Deer, Beloved” original painting

Description

“While I’ve certainly bopped around plenty in my life, I’ve spent the majority of my time on Earth living in Western Pennsylvania, and thus living in a state of near constant proximity to many, many deer.

It’s not that I ever disliked the deer. They were just always there. They didn’t carry the novelty of a litter of kittens or a peacock or a giraffe at the zoo. They were just the creatures who were always scurrying across the backyard, or causing distant rustling on hikes, or as perplexed as all of us we were to find themselves occasionally in the middle of a high school cross country course, or too frequently flirting with traffic.
I wish I could pinpoint the exact moment this changed, but at some point over the past few years I looked closely at a deer and realized I have in fact spent most of my life surrounded by some of the most heart-stoppingly gorgeous creatures to walk among us.
I mean, have you seen a deer lately? Like, really truly seen it?! The delicate corners of its eyes? The teddy bear nose? The puff of white in its tail? The weightlessness of its prance??

As a driver and a hiker, there’s no shortage of deer sightings in my days but just enough that they still catch me off guard in the most welcome way possible –I slow down, I allow myself to be fully overwhelmed by their beauty, and I proceed a bit more gently than I arrived.
And now that I really see the deer, I cannot help but to advocate for them loudly with horn and high beams when they make unadvisable road-crossing choices. And I cannot help but feel devastated at roadside casualties or even casualties perfectly in line with the laws of nature.

If those are burdens, then I take them on happily because I’d never go back to the time when I didn’t fully see the deer.

While I was talking on the phone with my friend Debbie during the snowstorm a few weeks ago, she said, “Oh, there’s a deer walking into my backyard with the cutest winter fur” and I said, “I will happily receive any photo you have” because frankly, these deer have needed their painting for a while now.

And, aren’t there billions of beings that do as well? Isn’t it an honor and a joy to fully see them all?

Now, does anyone have any Canadian goose reference photos?”

Reference photo by Debbie Jacknin of Songbird Artistry!