Fawn Sighting

We love to start new projects.. leaning more towards a compulsion to build/hobble/craft things despite obstacles.. namely having the raw materials to get things done. Somehow, luckily we are champs of scrounging things up from hither and yon to make our ramshackle fortress a reality. Recently we had carved out a flat spot close to the wood shop to do various wood crafting activities. We didn’t want to leave it just dirt as erosion is a constant battle on our sloping homesite so Keith remembered a place in the woods where some bricks were piled up close to a foundation that was razed long ago. We hopped onto the 4 wheeler with all 5 dogs barking with excitement because in their mind they think we are going to hunt. After dodging the regular fallen logs and catching untold amount of spiderwebs to the face we start loading up bricks. The dogs peel off and start looking for squirrels or other oddities they like to terrify. We take a load home and halfway through loading up the next, Keith shouts something like, “we are dumbasses”.. which could mean anything so I go back to the brick pile and 6 feet away is a fawn curled up between some grapevines. I looked closely to see its breathing rhythm, its eyes staring into the forest floor pretending it doesn’t see us. It is perfectly camouflaged and even remained undetected by the dogs.. a miracle in and of itself. We marvel for a moment and then get back to work while the fawn watches us load out. As I’m working I think about the fawn and the mother and the life that is undoubtedly all around us in the woods. I think about the bricks that were piled up and left to be consumed by the forest and how at some point in time our place too will be a ‘ruin’.. and how deer might hide close to it while someone else scavenges useful things from the debris. I reckon it makes me appreciate the time I do have to scurry and build something, just to have nature destroy it. We all have our place in nature.. sometimes we act as though we are the masters, but at times like this I know better.