The Fawn Checks In

It has been a summer of the fawns. In springtime, there were several to many fawns in our yard. The does would tuck them here with us, in our quiet yard, to keep them safe, set out for the day, and then come back and retrieve them in the evening.

We delighted, in particular, in the antics of a pair of twin fawns who were here nearly every day. They played and cavorted in the yard, absolutely having the best time of their lives. They didn't seem to care that we were watching at all, so wrapped up were they in their joy for each other and their games.

Summer has grown long in the tooth, and time has changed some things. The doe only brings one fawn by anymore. We do not know what happened to the other one, but of course, we fear the worst. The fawn is still with its mother, which is great, but it has no twin to cavort with now. (My heart cries for you, dear little one, for it has known a similar loss.)

I was sitting in the yard watching for the hummingbirds, which is bittersweet, as their days are drawing down to just a few, when the doe and fawn arrived on this day. The doe walked ahead, keeping watch. The fawn stopped and chomped down some twigs at the edge of the yard that seemed quite tasty.

I was very quiet and stealthy with my camera, and I was able to get off more than two dozen shots of the fawn, now grown quite a bit larger than before. So here is my photo of the day, in which the fawn checks in.

The soundtrack song for a summer grown long in the tooth, for the lone fawn, and for the hummingbirds whose days are waning, is this one: Springsteen's cover of a classic Bob Dylan tune, The Times They Are A-Changin'.

Bonus link: Springsteen on Dylan.