Oh, deer.

Today, as we pulled into the driveway after church, Justin suddenly could not believe his eyes. At first, he thought the neighbors had gotten a horse...but soon realized there was actually a deer in the small wooded area at the back of our property. For the first thirty seconds or so of this conversation, I did not see what he was seeing and didn't really believe that there was a deer in the backyard. (Side note: we have continually discussed that, although we frequently see deer all over Ithaca - including 10 at once in my apartment backyard, our garden will be safe because of our non-woodland-proximate location and near impossibility of a deer making it safely across major roads to our neighborhood).

Well, we were wrong. Deer can successfully make it to our yard. Not just 1 deer. 7 deer. Yes, imagine the shock of two Pennsylvania kids (one of whom has spent a significant amount of his time in the woods hoping to find deer) finding 7 deer in their semi-urban backyard. To add shock to the whole crazy situation, our next door neighbor was cutting the grass. The motor sound didn't scare them at all, despite being only about 15 feet from the mower. They also weren't scared of us until we were practically close enough to touch them.

Eventually, the majority of the group ran away (with a bit of prompting from the proud gardener Justin) but there was one doe (and we think maybe one of her fawns) that stayed in the brush all day. Although in the middle of Ithaca there's obviously not much he can do about it if she does eat his grape plants, Justin has repeatedly threatened the deer, reminding her that he's a hunter.

If anyone is doubting our story, here's a picture (look right in the center - one of the deer is facing away, and the other is turned slightly).



What a crazy thing to see - and yet so cool. They really are beautiful, and it was really nerve wracking to watch them run across the nearby busy road. Luckily, they all made it, as far as we could see!

Speaking of other beautiful brown things, you should see our wood floor in the den!!!! I pre-treated it and stained it today, and it's by far the most effective home renovation project I've tackled so far. I love when you can really see results. Tomorrow, we can put the finish on top and also move on to staining the living room floor. I'd show pictures, but I'm so exhausted from the day that I'm avoiding the trip outside to take pictures (due to our dust-control measures, there's plastic sheeting hanging in the doorways, and this requires walking out the backdoor and in the front door to get from the kitchen to the front rooms). I'm also giving my camera battery a good charge right now, so hopefully tomorrow both it and I will have the energy to photograph the amazing transformation that's underway in the den!