Wild Roses – their scent is everywhere this morning.

Nature stories, all of which happened this morning:

• The other day I noticed that one of the ‘entrances’ that Henry used to go under the shed no longer had leaves blocking the opening. Some little creature had been cleaning up. I showed it to Don and said ‘Let’s keep an eye out.’ When one groundhog vacates his home, another often moves in. This morning, Don opened the door to make his trek up to the back forty to see the sun rise and there, on the ramp of the shed was a groundhog. Both of them were startled and the groundhog ran under the shed. When I got up Don told me about his encounter, saying it was a big, fat groundhog. Later, as I was sipping coffee, Don called out to me to look out the window and there was the groundhog, eating the grass. At one point he got on his hind legs to munch on some plants (thankfully, by the shed instead of in my garden, but it’s clearly time to keep a vigilant eye out for mischief.) He was last seen on the lilac side of the lawn. We’re pretty sure this isn’t Henry as he seemed a bit too spry. We’re not saying that definitively, but I think Henry would have made an appearance before now. This guy might be our new tenant. I also saw a deer running through the woods beyond the shed.

• Don went for a walk and after I finished what I was reading, I went out to the front porch to sit for a bit on the glider. I heard a loud whirring noise, couldn’t figure out what it was, looked up, and there was a hummingbird dining on my hanging plant.

• I got up, walked over to the garden and a big fat bumblebee was dining on the catmint. One of the biggest I’ve ever seen.

• Don came back. I made our second cup of coffee. We sat on the sofa in the living room. Don said that he saw something running up on the back forty. Maybe it was a cat? A fox? I got up to look, and saw a flash of something running – maybe a dog? If so, it was just a bit bigger than Scoutie had been. I went outside to the Secret Garden to get a peek, thinking if it was dog, it might need rescuing. I saw a large deer standing there placidly, staring at me. That was when I realized that the little animal running was a very young fawn. The fawn was running back and forth, very fast, just like a puppy does. We’d see it tear around a corner, disappear, then switch directions. Don used the word ‘gamboling.’ It was extraordinary. I’ve seen lots of young deer around here, but I’ve never seen one that young playing like that, gleefully running back and forth while Mom waited nearby. Oh my heavens, it just made my day. I’ll treasure that image for a long time.

I am always appreciative of where we live but never more so than on a morning like this. It’s going to be hot and humid later today, but this morning has been a gift.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.