In the Dark of the Night

 

This photo is from a few years ago and I am hoping that this will NOT be the view from my studio window come the 14th of March.

Last night I could not get to sleep and wound up getting up to take a pill around 2 am.  I was a bit surprised at how light it was outside given it was 2 am, so I looked out the window to see the nearly full moon brightly shining.  Of course the light was being reflected off the rest of the snow that is still lingering on the ground, which magnified it and made the night very bright.

As I looked around at the neighbourhood, I noted movement across the street.  Wondering if my neighbour was also awake and out and about (early morning shift?) the movement turned into a fairly large deer coming from the gap between the two houses.  Then a second deer appeared.  Two full grown deer - it's too early for a fawn.  As I watched, fascinated, the two reached the street then sauntered away, not a care in the world.

I didn't think to take a photo until they had gone too far away for the camera to pick them out.  If I'd thought quickly enough I could have had a really good photo of them as they passed under the street lamp.

This town is no stranger to animals in town, but two full grown deer, here on my street?  I've seen a coyote strolling down the centre line of my street at high noon, and a grey fox at night.  Bears are fairly common when they are bulking up to hibernate, raiding garbage cans or helping themselves to apples.  While I've see tracks of deer, this was the first time I'd seen them on my street.  We live near a green belt and it isn't unheard of to be notified of a cougar in the area and people warned to keep their cats indoors lest they turn into bigger kitty kibbles.  Moose have strolled through the green belt as well.  We have a variety of hawks that sometimes build nests in the trees, but frequently the crows will drive them away.  Or try to.

When I grew up this town was much smaller than it is now and animals in town were common, less so now that it is more densely developed and a much higher population.

But I can never forget that we live *with* animals and some of them are wild.  They are NOT to be approached and certainly should never be harassed.

The First Nations people refer to the animals as their relations.  I try to remember that they are living beings and deserve to live in peace.  And I think about the damage humans are doing to this planet assuming that none of that damage will affect them.  And then curse the increasingly devastating weather disasters.  We had a reminder of how devastating weather events can be on our drive to Vancouver and back, where there is still a bailey bridge in one place, and a level crossing for a train track where there had been an overpass, and places where the road is slumping, or still damaged from the landslides and flooding.  

It's not just the animals we are hurting.  We are hurting ourselves, too.  And in the dark of the night, I feel sad for what we are doing - or not doing - to help every living thing on this planet.