Magic Hour

I had the most AMAZING EXPERIENCE yesterday afternoon . . . I was walking from the apartment to the gym, about 3 or 4 blocks

and I saw a deer . . . this is right in the middle of a fairly congested area, with apartments and stores

but there is a creek that runs through the area and it is wooded, but not very big

in all my years in Hamilton -- and I was born here, went to school here and have spent 5-6 months a year here since 2010 . . . I have never seen a deer before

so I walked over and stood there, watching

the deer saw me, looked at me, checked me out and went about her business -- eating lunch

I stood there, probably 10 minutes and then she went down the bank to the creek so I walked over (about 20-30 feet) to the bank of the creek, still about 30 feet away from her

and watched her

she continued to just go about her business, very diligently looking at me and then back to eating

I was there for about 20 minutes when she started walking towards me -- she stopped maybe 7-8 feet away

she stood there just looking at me and then after a few minutes she came up on the embankment to where I was and moved over towards me, again stopping about 7-8 feet away

this went on for almost half an hour . . . then she went over to the trees and started eating, her back towards me (maybe 12-15 feet away)

I thought "I wonder what would happen if I sat down -- I would be even LESS threatening" and so I sat on the ground

and when she saw me she just stared at me and walked straight over to me, no more than 5 feet away

and just stood there

after awhile she walked off and up the other side of the creek -- all together we stood next to each other at least 40 minutes

I have never had an experience like this with a deer . . . all the while she stood next to me (and I assume it was a girl based on the way she peed) I was trying to "telepathically connect" with her

and, far as I can tell, on some level it must have worked

a beautiful 40 minutes, one I am not likely to forget