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Praetorium Honoris

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Four Deer

(Original)
Spent Sunday night tossing and turning, sleeping fitfully whilst fretting about mine warfare. No, really. Naval mines to be precise. Let me just say this, I hate mines. Except when it's me laying them. Don't ask, I've played too many war games and simulations over the years, affects the brain it does.

Anyhoo. Monday, up early I was, 0530. Couldn't sleep and the feline staff suggested that I should feed them, "seeing as how you're up and about already." What the heck, might as well. So I did. Consequently I arrived at work a bit earlier than normal. Well, 15 minutes earlier, round about 0715.

A gray day, cold wind coming in off the Atlantic made me shiver as I dismounted Big Girl and locked her up. 'Twas then that I noticed movement to my left flank. Over by a stand of trees near the parking lot. Not far from the front of the building.


Right about where that picnic table stands on the far right of the photo. Four deer, two of which looked like yearlings based on their size. Two larger ones, I assumed they were both does (the female of the species Odocoileus virginianus, the males are known, round these parts anyway, as bucks). I assumed because by this time of the year the bucks have shed their antlers. While there are a number of young males on the property, the big fella, the head buck in charge of the herd seldom comes anywhere near the open. He can be seen on the edge of the fields to the east of the facility, which are surrounded by rather tangled woods.

We have a sizable herd of white-tails on the property. No natural predators except when they jump the fence and get hit by cars on the main road. Juvat is familiar with the attack patterns of the white-tail. Security once found that someone had cut a hole in the fence back in the woods for to go a-hunting on company property. Those fellas were sore surprised to discover that the Federal government looks askance at folks who break into facilities where gubmint work is being done!

So yes, four deer, all of whom were rather surprised to see humans dismounting their vehicles and proceeding to work. Perhaps they figured that Monday was a holiday. Maybe they just lost track of time. At any rate, it was an awesome thing to see on a Monday morning, out of the ordinary and all. It was also great fun to see just how fast a white-tail can run when they want to disappear into the woods!


I was kinda thinking the other day about my lack of "political" posts lately. By choice. I see nothing to be gained by ranting and raving about things, particularly the antics of the political class.

A friend or two has lately indicated that they were "refraining from Facebook" for a while. Well, I won't do that. I keep in touch with my kids and grandkids over Facebook, videos and photos of the latest doings. I keep up with old buddies from my Air Force days and I belong to a group of folks who have a great deal in common with each other. We're mostly conservative but there are a couple of folks of a liberal bent who keep us honest in our views.

I have pretty much disengaged from political discourse. I stay informed but won't engage unless it's absolutely necessary. Which is seldom the case.

So there is that.


One last thing, I just wanted to mention the music I'm listening to these days. Foo Fighters. There, I said it. I don't knowwhat their political leanings are and I don't much care. They entertain me. A lot.

Nice beat.



And you can dance to it. Which I do, when no one's looking. My dancing leaves quite a bit to be desired.

While I'm not this bad...



Hhmm, I might actually be worse.

Though, to my credit, I once invented a dance. I called it The Tomcat, it involved dancing about the periphery of the dance floor with my arms spread wide, then I would dash across the floor, sweeping my arms back as I did so. Yeah, F-14 Tomcat, not the feline kind.

Looked kinda like this...



Why yes, I did do my own sound effects. Was alcohol involved? Of course it was.

I was quite proud of that, as was The WSO. I introduced that move at the Navy-Marine Corps ball back in '05. Quite a hit amongst the midshipmen of the Holy Cross NROTC detachment. Gunny got a chuckle out of it as well. (Gunny was the Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant assigned to the unit. We were buddies of a sort. Kindred spirits.)

You might ask yourself, "What did The Missus Herself think of your new dance?"

Well, honestly, she just shook her head and stated...

"You're an idiot."

Why yes, yes I am.



24 comments:

  1. Those aren't piles of Raisinets scattered at random through the yard.
    The deer that frequent our back yard have moved from, "OMG humans! We're outta here!" to just standing there and giving us the, "And just what are you going to do?" look. And if deer had a central finger I am sure they would be using it to express just how little they care about what I think. A common marble delivered via a slingshot used to get them to levitate away, but now it only gets them to move a few feet.
    I wonder what future archeologists will have to say about the large number of marbles in certain areas of our property.
    The power demands for implementing a DVL (Deer Vaporizing Laser) installation are beyond my means at present. But I do follow the military laser programs with great interest.
    Although great fun, chasing the deer with a small quadrotor wasn't a long term solution.

    Very good post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah yes, the Raisinets in the yard, we have lots of the rabbit delivered variety.

      I can somehow picture you with a quadrotor chasing deer. If they ever field the DVL, I know Juvat will want at least two!

      Delete
    2. Yeah, one for each of my vehicles. Funny you should mention Deer this morning. I was on my way home and had just pulled off the highway on to the feeder road to my property. Large field there with probably 50 deer on it. My first thought was that OldNFO sure picked the wrong place to hunt recently. Second was that, as they were only a couple hundred yards from the highway, they were forming up for a high speed strike on vehicles on said thoroughfare. Glad I was off it.
      Yes, I have pictures.

      Delete
    3. Just strap Old NFO to the hood of your car, guaranteed no deer.

      (Sorry Cajun, it had to be said.)

      50 deer? Yup, sounds like an Alpha strike forming up.

      Delete
  2. I could see you whooshing and thundering around with Sammy Davis blasting in the backgound.... "I Gotta Be Me!"

    https://youtu.be/BB0ndRzaz2o

    ReplyDelete
  3. I believe we each have our own little kid inside, and it refreshes our sprit and soul to let him out to play now and again, public opinion be damned. Dance on, idiot, dance on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I always dance hoping no one is looking.

      Get a couple of drinks in me, and all bets are off.

      Delete
  4. Deer have be scarce around The Manor this winter. Only ones I've seen have been lying along side the roads.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Odd, but you guys are having an actual winter this year. Maybe the deer are all way up in the back country.

      Delete
  5. Heh. Around here, the deer don't really care about people, and are well acclimated to urban life. To whit, the following events:

    Approach 4-way stop sign, note solitary deer standing on corner, ogling me.

    Stop for stop sign, as law requires.

    Note that as soon as vehicle ceases motion, deer begins.

    Watch deer lackadaisically cross street, remaining between white crosswalk lines at all times.

    I swear it stuck its tongue out at me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahaha! Sounds like pedestrians around here. No wait, they don't bother with crosswalks and it's not their tongue they stick out at you. More of a finger thing, ya know?

      Delete
  6. We have those li’l blacktail varmints (deer) out here.
    But it’s the wild turkeys who really disturb the setting.
    Probably won’t be too long before the coyotes move in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We've got turkey and coyote as well. Lots of wild turkeys.

      Delete
    2. We have have seen hawks for the last few years, and we think that's why the feral cat problems are far less.
      The hawks seem to leave those odd looking black cats with the white stripes alone.

      Delete
    3. Nature will find a way to strike a balance.

      Delete
  7. Ha, deer problems. So first world, dontchaknow? My fav deer story is driving from upstate to my mom's house in Satellite Beach, had to take the Bee Line Expressway at 5am on a very foggy morning. Imagine driving through almost California Fog with a clump of deer every 15 feet or so, for 40 miles. If I wasn't driving a clown car (subcompact stick with 2 not-subcompact people and a large dog in back) and if I had no morals, well, enough said.

    As to dancing. I am the eternal white boy with no rhythm. Though I finally got good enough to dance 70's and early 80's by practicing my pell work on the dance floor (sword work against a fixed post - the pell.) Wife put up with it. Scary thing is I do this stuff without liquid encouragement. So, imagine, Left foot forward box stance, shift to right foot forward goofy foot, back to left foot forward, repeat etc, while the arms are doing shield block-forearm cut, shieldblock-forearm backcut, shieldblock-forearm leg cut, repeat etc.

    People have actually asked my wife if it was time for me to go home as I seemed to have drunk enough, and Mrs. Andrew replied, "Oh, he doesn't drink. He's like this all the time." Shock or pity or both were usually the reactions she got.

    As to Federal Land, well, I knew someone who blew an academy appointment by not declaring a firearm in his car when he went onto the local Air Base for a CAP meeting. I don't think it would have been an issue but he was young, stupid and first denied any gun existed and then got belligerent with the APs or whatever they called themselves at the time. Dumb-ass.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. " He's like this all the time."

      That's me, drink just magnifies my natural tendencies.

      Delete
  8. We sometimes have deer walking up the street in front of our house. As it is not a through street, there is little chance of deer/auto contact. I do find them nice to look at.

    Thanks for the post.
    Paul L. Quandt

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We've had them on the front lawn as well, we too live on a cul-de-sac so there isn't much danger of deer-automobile interaction in my neighborhood. (Though there are one or two who think the street is "just like Daytona." Not.)

      I've enjoyed watching them since I was a kid.

      Delete
  9. Foo Fighters, heh. Thanks for the reminder. Good music, and some seriously funny videos. I like people who don't take themselves too seriously. "Learn to Fly" is probably my favorite.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I first heard "Learn to Fly" on the radio in Virginia Beach after a particularly fine lunch at Chick's Oyster Bar. Then again that very night on Letterman. Love that band.

      Delete
  10. Ahhhh, Boss? Foo fighters....Everlong? Huh? Not getting that.

    ReplyDelete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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