The Day Before the Day Before the Day Before Christmas

Blue and I just returned from a long, wet walk into the woods. This morning was spent wrapping and packing a box for Brother Bear and Sweet Sis. To reward us, I bundled up in two sweat shirts, clogs, and a rain jacket and grabbed my binoculars, ready to head off for the walk. Blue was so excited she almost had a melt-down anxiously skipping around waiting for me to finish dressing. We went down through the pasture and deeper into the woods than usual. This is my favorite time of year to walk there because the grass and blackberry brambles have all died away and you can see where you're putting your feet if you go off the main path. That is important to people who wear Birkenstocks most of the time. Also the deer and other small animals have cut trails through the woods that are just perfect for following. Yesterday we heard an owl. It's the first time I've heard one out here. Just once around noon, then several times toward evening. We went to the part of the woods where we saw an owl last spring - as if yesterday's owl would be sitting on the same branch! But no luck seeing anything other than the beautiful colors of trees against a cloudy sky, bowed down light orange field-grasses, and crystal drops of rain reflecting off fence lines.

It's the time of year to look for antler sheds. I tried really hard to find one last year and it seems almost impossible. There are so many fallen twigs and branches that look like antlers, that it is like finding a four-leaf clover in a field of clover. The thing is, I'm good at finding four-leaf clovers! I think all I have to do is find my first antler shed and then I'll be able to find more. They say the deer shed their antlers after mating and hunting season when their testosterone is lowering. I've been told that the little woodland creatures need calcium so much that the antlers are scarfed up and eaten right away. And I read a great gimick in Field & Stream which says to put cracked corn at the inside angle of a fence corner, so that when the deer bend down to nibble, their antlers will get caught in the fence and drop off. As we walked and looked, it dawned on me that the antlers are sort of like baby teeth. They get loose and could drop off anywhere. They tell you to look for places where the deer might jump over a fence or rub up against a tree. I suddenly realized why I haven't found any...I think there is a tooth deer. Like our tooth fairies, there is probably a tooth deer - most likely a tooth reindeer because they fly, of course - who swoops down and grabs each fallen antler quicker than a wink. I'm not sure what they would leave in return (like the quarters under our pillows), but I will give it some thought.

It was a peaceful way to spend the day before the day before the day before Christmas. Once I realized I couldn't get everything Christmasy done, I was able to relax and appreciate the Season. I even had a chance to meditate a bit on the Nativity and reading Matthew's Gospel. I also looked at a book, B is for Bethlehem, a children's book by Isabel Wilner, illustrated with wonderful scenes by Elisa Kleven. I got it at Powell's Book Store last weekend thinking I'd give it as a gift. But I think SIE is too old for it, and I'm definitely not, so I think I'll keep it for myself!