Little Eye

Little Eye in October

This page is dedicated to a very special little friend.

Living across the street from a huge woods is one of the great blessings of my life. Being in the corner house, the well worn deer trail runs from the woods, across the front and down the side of the house to the back wooded garden where a little creek runs most of the year.

Each spring there is the delight of welcoming the little ones. Working at home allows the time to stop whatever is so very important and to sit outside on the porch to be with the animals. The wild turkeys bring their young, fluffy baby raccoons and squirrels appear almost daily.

In the spring of this year, one of the beautiful does brought her tiny babe.

2009 Spring

I suppose her fawn was only a few days old, as he was smaller than the other fawns who came with their mums. He was a bit wobbly and his right eye was slightly smaller than his left. In my mind, I called him Little Eye.

This is the first time in all my years that I ever “named” a wild animal friend. I’m not much into naming but somehow it just felt okay in my mind.

I’ve watched this little fellow grow strong and frisky. The questions I had about if he would be ready for the winter have vanished. He is ready.

It seems true, that when the student is ready, the teacher appears.

The past few weeks have turned out to be filled with lessons and insights. The teachers came in the form of Little Eye and his mother.

The beautiful doe...

About five weeks ago, who knows how, the beautiful doe broke her leg. She arrived one day, with her young one, with her front left leg broken at the knee. It has broken my heart to see her hobble and yet, with this most likely painful handicap, she seemed very peaceful.

The deer have a four day territory walk, it seems. When they did not show up after five days, my heart simply sank. Then Little Eye appeared seemingly alone. I looked to the hillside behind the creek and there, among the trees, was a huge stag watching him. A bit later, his mother appeared and I realized once again that there is a knowingness in the realm of animals. Sometimes I wonder if humans have lost a bit of that great ability, perhaps it is just sleeping in us sometimes.

Eating apples and resting under the fir trees as she always does continues. The constant love and closeness that mother and son have continues. There is cleaning and licking, taking naps together in a patch of sunlight and somehow the routine of traveling their four day territory walk.

I am witnessing love through and with wounds. The lesson is not lost on me. It has been a great lesson in letting go. Letting go with love and knowing that whatever will happen will happen. Compassion for the suffering of people and animals overwhelms sometimes. Knowing that life is  just as it is today. It’s that mental need to control and make things different that gets me some times.

Messages and signs are  all around. It is just  to come to each day of one’s life with as open a heart as we can, I feel.

Winter has arrived with full force now. I wonder, on the bitter cold nights, how they are doing. Maybe we can cloak one another with invisible blankets of love to help warm each other. Maybe love is enough to help another heal in some small way. I hope so.

If my timing observations are right, there may be a visit with Little Eye and his mum on Christmas Day. Whatever happens, they have certainly changed my life here in the corner house near the woods. For this, I am eternally thankful.

Two friends...