Living The Old Way

Wow, have we been quiet or what? I don't think I mentioned here that my mom arrived on January 9th, and we've been hanging out with her for the month. It's been a great visit. She got to see her first bobcat walking down the road, and this very fine juvenile Cooper's Hawk that was hunting our yard.
She's also been watching the deer come and go and enjoying their sudden interest in being my friend. While I do scatter sunflower seeds and millet for our ground feeders, I don't really consciously toss anything for the deer (or squirrels) to eat. I expected the squirrels to come and munch, but the deer were a total surprise. The other day I went out in the early morning to scatter seed under the big cedar tree, and I scared the momma deer and her twin yearlings. But instead of high-tailing it down the hill, they stopped and looked at me. I said "hello" and momma started walking toward me. I was shocked. I moved away, and she came over to the tree and started eating the birdseed. She blew my mind. And then, she did it again Sunday morning. I surprised her when I came out the little garage door, and instead of running away from me, she watched me go to the cedar tree and scatter seed. She walked over. I walked away. It is not my intention to be her human friend. I don't think that's a good thing for a deer. Her behavior is entirely her own initiative. I suspect there must be other humans feeding her.

Other than that, the sun continues to shine day after day in these clear mountain skies. The word now is that we are entering into a critically dry period. We're hoping for rain, but it is unlikely we'll get anything that could make up our deficit. It'll be interesting to see what the summer will be like after such a warm and mild winter.

We're taking my mom to the airport on Thursday. She's going home with her brand new Kindle Touch. We've stocked it full of good books for her to read. She's planning on moving up here to live with us as soon as her condo sells. We're looking forward to it. Multi-generational living is like living the old ways. We're glad to turn the clock back a few hundred years on human relationships. Modern life can be so silly.

So, how are you?