I arrived home Sunday night after being re-routed via Minneapolis to San Antonio from Amsterdam. That was because my flight from Harare was an hour late, and I arrived in Amsterdam one minute after gate-closing time for my connecting flight! So it goes, but it all worked out.
I’ve recovered from jet lag now, and am coping with the backlog of paperwork I found on my desk after being gone for four months. Carol did a great job of sorting and taking care of what she could, but my desk was still covered with stacks of letters and journals when I got home. Happily, I’ve worked my way through most of this. I’ll feel truly caught up when I’m able to send in our tax papers for 2013! (We always file for an extended deadline when I’m in Africa at tax reporting time.)
On my half-hour walk this morning, I noticed some fresh deer droppings in our neighborhood. They love to munch on many landscaping plants, and it’s not unusual to find evidence of their visits. It was a gorgeous morning, and I didn’t think any more about the deer when I went out to do a bit of yard work after breakfast. Our mower guys were here (they come every two weeks,) and when they saw me, one of them excitedly told me there was a little “Bambi” next door. He spoke in a broken Tex-Mex, so I wasn’t sure I heard correctly. He saw my questioning look, and motioned for me to follow him. Sure enough, two neighbors up from us, a tiny spotted fawn was curled up between the AC/Heating unit and the house. It looked at me curiously when I approached, but did not try to get away.
When I rang the neighbor’s doorbell, the grandmotherly lady who answered was as surprised as I’d been when I told her that they had a yard “guest.” I suggested calling Animal Control because the mother deer was nowhere to be seen. After talking it over a few minutes, she said she would call, but asked me if I could put the fawn in their fenced backyard. When I lifted the fawn, it stayed in my hands without struggling, but when I laid it down in the backyard, it got to it’s feet and began a bit of a wobbly run around the yard. It must not have been more than a day-old. I hope it will get good care!
