Chores and Deer

My work day doesn't usually end until 6 or after. Often, I have errands to run after work, like tonight, so I didn't get home until about 6:45. And then there are chores--you know, watering pots, trees, shrubs, etc., filling bird feeders and baths, feeding Momma Kitty--and there is now barely enough light to get it all done. I was just finishing up tonight when I spotted the first deer of the evening and the alarm sounded (Lucy's barking). She had spotted the rest...7 deer who, when the commotion started, split--3 going one direction and 4 going the other. I have a pear tree about 75 yards from my house and, right now, the deer are drawn to it like bees to honey (the same pear tree in which a porcupine was napping week before last). Then I spotted an owl swooping out of a tree, probably after his 1st meal of the early evening.

So, I go inside, blinds drawn against the dark, and hunker down. Fall begins this Sunday. I'm dreading it.