Mother Nature

I knew there was a slight chance of rain in the forecast, but I really hadn’t given it much thought until I heard a distant rumble of thunder. It didn’t sound like it was very close, but it was close enough to make me get up out of the chair in my air conditioned retreat and walk outside. Recent daytime temperatures had shattered records kept since the invention of the pencil so the possibility of an afternoon thunder shower gave me reason to welcome some natural water, but fear the intensity that comes with the heat.

When I stepped out the garage door the first thing I noticed was the heat. I’ve lived in the South all of my life, and while I’ve seen many days of 100+ temperatures, this was the first year I ever tried to breathe 109 degree air. And for the un-initiated, yes, there is a noticeable difference between 100 and 109.  

But before I could make the dash to the truck I saw a large female deer walk out of the woods and stand in the center of my concrete driveway. She was oblivious to my presence and already soaked to the core. As she began to circle in a very small area, she was joined by a baby so small that it still had it spots. The baby joined in the circular dance as she placed her head on her mother’s back. Even though these deer were less than 50 feet away from me, they never knew I existed. Before I could make my run to the truck, they were joined by a third deer that also rested its head on the largest of the three and joined in the dance.

They finally moved away. After standing huddled together in the ditch at the edge of the road for a few seconds, the group of three slowly made their way across the road and in to some thick pine foliage; out of my sight and breaking the spell that had prevented me from doing what I had intended to in the first place; move my truck out of the storm.

Well the storm finally passed and honestly I couldn't tell you exactly how bad it was (until later) because I chose to ride it out in my basement! I was upstairs long enough to hear a tree crash it to the house, but not long enough to risk being killed by the next one. But as I sat below grade with my oblivious house dog, I couldn’t help but wonder about the fate of the family group of deer. I feel sure that at least the largest of the three had lived long enough to have witnessed similar storms, and all three have lived their entire lives “camping” in every season, but their indecision and fear of what Mother Nature was throwing their way has stayed with me. Of course I can get the latest Doppler radar at home and in my car, and Ben Jones will do his best to explain it to me in terms I can almost understand, but what do we really know about the weather?

The storm did end up being a bad one and I finally get to use the insurance I’ve been buying for years! The fact that we were not physically harmed is the most important part to me…well that and being blessed by the electrical gods. But the insurance adjuster will come and go, and while we may have to throw away some food in the refrigerator, we will just drive to the grocery store and replace it; our life will be back to normal almost instantly. I’m sure we will always remember this storm because it 

happened on our 5^th anniversary of moving in, but other than that it will be just another day.

But those deer I watched will suffer from this storm for quite some time. Yes, the sun is shining again and the buckets of rain will allow many plants to sprout new tips that will, for the time being, make the animals fat and happy. But for them the true damage won’t be realized until summer has passed; when the air begins to cool and the search for food to endure the winter begins; when the plants are planning to rest for the winter. This is when every animal that depends on acorns will pay the price for the storm of  July 3, 2013.