I could not sleep last night. So I got up while it was quite dark still, having decided to go for a walk. When I had my shorts, t-shirt, and shoes on, I opened the door and stepped out into a wall of warmth and humidity that was a dragon. If you have never been in the Southeast in July, may I suggest something? You don’t want to meet this dragon. Just picture walking out of a cool shower, drying off, having a cool drink of water, and then opening the door to hell where Satan’s minions dress you in a wool blanket and then you’re tasked with gathering firewood for the bonfire slated for high noon.

The moon was nearly full, too, and I could see long distances in the hazy, humid, early morning air. No breeze stirred. I could hear the early morning birds chitter in the brush and trees, and the thrum of cicadas and frogs completed the music. No vehicles were on the roads. I anticipated a very quiet time for a walk.

When I was about 1.5 miles into it, I could feel something. You know the sense we get when we feel eyes upon us? I looked ahead and this doe was at the edge of some kudzu, munching on grasses by the jogging trail. She let me get very close to her.

I was already sweating a lot due to the heat and humidity, so I know she had to have smelled me, but she stood next to me long enough for me to take her picture.

I continued for a few slow miles. Some redbirds and sparrows played by me and along the trail, perhaps snatching some flying insects that buzzed around the lights along the trail that still were on. And I continued.

When I reached my turnaround spot and returned towards my place, again I could feel eyes. I looked up and some fawns hopped up from where they were bed in the grass.

When they scurried off, their mom came bounding across the trail in front of me. I had not even seen her. She was right beside me essentially, munching under a massive oak tree. When she saw her babies, she ran right to them in a flash. The fawns tried to get under their mother to nurse but she pushed them away and simply watched me until I passed their area.

I don’t know how one is not moved by such scenes. They grip my heart each time I see them. Maybe it was good that I could not sleep last night. Why? Because I got up and went for what I thought would be an uneventful walk to clear my head. But I was treated to the sights and sounds, the white light of the moon over all this heat and haze. And, well, it was pretty darn sweet.