there's a field behind my new house with old apple trees and sometimes the deer come to eat the drops. last night before dusk we spotted two. they were alert and watching us; they twitched their tails and ears. they ran for the woods. we spotted a third, then, which had been out of eyesight. it had darker fur.
at dusk turkeys came to peck around in the same field but turkeys, being what they are, don't stir the same things in me.
the other week a black bear crossed my path down along the road near the dam. it just stepped right out onto the pavement. i slowed. it padded across and into the woods on the other side. i hooted and clapped my hands together. my daughter seemed less elated, less lifted up. then i learned she had spoken about it as soon as she left the car. a few days passed and she reminded me of it, saying, remember when we saw the bear. i said yes, i remember.
