White Tailed Deer

Crisp Autumn days are made for hiking.

Pull on layers of clothing, a pair of warm mittens and sturdy shoes then just go!

The woods really are lovely dark and deep and they are filled with surprises.  Leaves of every imaginable hue drift slowly to the ground. 

The wind soughs over the prairies grasses and gray choppy waters of the lake, but the creeks are dried up and make perfect places to walk when dead falls block the trails.

We got lost.  It's hard to see the trail with such a deep carpet of leaves already on the ground and we startled two big white tailed deer.  At first they looked like huge dogs, or even coyotes or wolves.  It's easy to let your imagination get carried away out there, but as their heads popped up, they twisted in the air and leaped away, white tails twitching straight up as they disappeared.

And we used the sun to find our way back to the car, colder, tireder, happier, because we had seen them.