The One Where Elizabeth Almost Hit a Deer

I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say because it's such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her. –Ellen DeGeneres

We live in a sleepy little hamlet nestled up against the Rocky Mountains. Evidence of deer in town {in the form of droppings in your yard followed by the lack of tulips in your spring gardens, where once there were tulips} is not uncommon and sometimes you even catch a glimpse of them. I myself have only spotted them a few times in our neighborhood, because most often they come into town on cold winter nights when food in the mountains is scarce and I tend to stay indoors when it is cold and dark outside.

The other day I was heading out to run some errands. I was about half-way between my house and the stop sign at the corner, when I caught some movement in my peripheral vision. I moved my foot to the brake to slow down and turned to see what it was. I saw a deer coming into the road, running flat out as he had just passed through a large, open church parking lot. The moment became surreal; it was incredible how many things passed through my mind in only a few short seconds. I counted four points on each of the buck's horns {so does that make him a four-point or an eight-point deer?}. I was awed by the beauty and grace and determination of this amazing creature as it refused to alter its course. And I was horrified at the possibility of not being able to stop in time. Instinct kicked in and I slammed on the brakes. I jerked to a stop just as the deer passed in front of me. After the panic had passed and my heart rate slowed, relief flooded my mind and I I felt like Someone had been watching out for me.