It started on Christmas morning, the same week as our first big snowfall this winter. A few deer found a safe little haven under some bent pine tree branches at the edge of the park behind our house. They stayed, bedded down on a snowless patch of pine needles. We could see them from our kitchen window and periodically checked for them throughout the day. Even though we’d seen deer make a dash through the park a few times over the years, their presence that day seemed magical. Afterward, they moved on to wherever it is that suburban deer go.


A few weeks ago, after our February blizzards, this mama and baby deer showed up. (Can you see them? Laying down in the center of the shot. ) They hesitated, then staggered as their hooves poked through the icy crust, the snow up to their bellies. The storm caused so many branches to fall, that the park has many a lean-to for the deer to take shelter. Now every morning, I peer out my bedroom window to see if my sweet little deer are there. I see them from the kitchen when I make my morning coffee. The boys can see them from the breakfast table.

Sometimes they are there, only for a moment, and I joke that they are “teasing me with their cuteness” by not letting me enjoy them longer. But a day or two passes and they come back. I’m sure this summer when our garden gets nibbled away I may not be so charmed by our new neighbors. But for now their presence makes my day.

What little surprises make your day?