Deer Crossing

It was damp and drippy, but we had to get ourselves and Spike out of the house.  Things don't look like they're going to be improving for the next few days so we donned our rain gear and headed down to to check out he creek which we can hear roaring from our house. It's not as high as we've seen it, but it is certainly muddier. There's a lot of new debris washed down from further up, but it doesn't seem to be impeding the flow. Further down, where the creek runs into Spring Lake, they were dredging the other day, so it looks like a lot of dirt and mud is depositing itself there where the flow is slower and flatter.

It wasn't until after I took the main picture of the brave little stand of daffodils valiantly blooming on an empty lot at the end of the street that I noticed the large herd of deer poised higher up on the hill watching us. Once they decided we weren't a threat, more emerged from the trees and made the crossing. We see them all the time in the vacant land above the houses on our street, but this group was a lot larger than we are used to seeing. They've lost a lot of shelter since the fire and probably have to travel further to find it. They certainly don't need the water we put out for them in the summer!

A text from Dana sees them safely in Buenos Aires and Peter and Blake will be up for dinner soon. I have been fighting off an infection and drinking cranberry juice all day, so still haven't ventured too far from the couch, but I've stockpiled a few projects on the table next to it so am accomplishing something as I work my way through them. 

The Academy Awards are tonight and I suppose we'll watch although we haven't seen a single one of the nominated movies. My feeling is that the Academy is still living in the past when movies were largely considered entertainment in the Hollywood style, and I predict that these are the ones that will win the most Oscars, leaving the smaller budget independent films to challenge us and make us think without winning the little gold man.