A doe in Maplewood Flats

Looking for a lost file, I discovered a note I had misfiled years ago. I'd forgotten the note, not the event. I even had an old photo.

Deer, Maplewood Flats Conservation Area, North Vancouver

This was taken some ten years ago with one of those little disposable cameras. I`m surprised at how well it turned out.

And here`s the note:

     She walked delicately

     along the path between the brambles

     on one side, salal on the other

     serene, silent.

     When we met, she stood,

     considering, nibbling a leaf.

     We were the intruders.

     But harmless; all we pointed was the camera.

     She stepped aside, knee deep into the shrubs,

     as if to let us pass.

     And slowly, step by cautious step,

     we changed places on that path

     until she was behind us

     and could continue peacefully

     into the clover beyond.

Maplewood used to be one of our favourite walking places, but now unfortunately is much further away than it was then. (We moved; it didn't.) Still, I've been telling Laurie that we must visit again one of these days.