A Scare!

"Where the deer and the antelope play" . . . in my front yard. I've griped and groaned, even moaned a bit about the resident deer that live over near, or on, Mills beach which is just across the road from the rear of the property. Usually they come out at night when everyone is asleep and make short work of the new sprouts and buds of the bushes and lately my tiny Christmas tree. They cut through my yard as I have an empty lot beside my place and they walk on the rocks to the front of the yard and up the street, but not before stopping for a feast or two on everything that looks edible to them. Yesterday daughter Pat and I were getting ready to get into her car in the driveway. Pat was putting something into the trunk when, out of the blue, like a fast spurt of wind three deer came by. One almost hit Pat as it rushed towards the front gardens, another was already running up the side of the house and a third was running towards the street corner, all chased by a black dog that was running full tilt. I doubt he caught the deer but for a moment it could have turned into a catastrophe. Pat wasn't sure what happened it all happened so quickly. I was standing there watching the suddenness of the race and it took a minute for my mind to absorb what was actually happening. It just goes to show we never know what our day will bring. A harmless outing to the store could have turned into a real tragedy.

The old folks used to have a saying about not going out without being fully dressed and in your best undies just in case of an accident. Well, they are right as accidents happen all the time and sometimes we have nothing to say about the when or the whys. It makes me wonder about unsolved words, thoughts, deeds that should be taken care of and the air cleared so there will never be regrets. Octogenarians are prone to moments of melancholy, not because we did something we shouldn't but because we didn't do something we should have. Life goes by at a pace we are unaware of and it is always a shock and a surprise to find out that the body and mind changes at its own pace with no leave way to mend the broken fences, or the energy to leap over the fence that stays your path to a better ending. Tears flow easier when familiar music is played, a written story catches your heart or a phone call or a letter reaches you with words of love. Sometimes it is regret for the things we could have, should have done or thought we should have and could have, yet knowing all the while that we really did the best we could in whatever the circumstance. So the deer brought home the swiftness of happenings . . . a millisecond and it could have been a disaster.

So, today keep in mind that it is in your best interest to pay attention to what is going on around you. Wear the fancy 'panties' and stop worrying about the what-ifs. Get on with your day like it was your very last one and do what you know is right and best for you and yours. Get rid of 'ill will' and tune up the smile muscles if they haven't been used lately. Wipe up the tears and hum a little tune to make you feel good. "One summer day in the month of May, a burly bum came hiking, down the shady lane with the sugar cane, a lookin for his liken, as he came along he sang a song of the land of milk and honey, where a bum can stay for many a day and he don't need any money . . . ooooh.....the buzzin of the bees in the cigarette trees, near the soda water fountain, and the lemonade springs where the blue bird sings in the big rock candy mountain." Now that goes back some sixty years and I'm not crying!!!