Deer Prudence

'Prudence' woodblock print; Kathleen Faulkner

'The sun is out, the sky is blue, it's beautiful and so are you..'

The Protest

'Almost Cut my Lawn'

It was shortly after the gulf disaster had begun that I went out to mow the lawn.  I had been thinking about the spill and wondering what to do.

I view lawns in general as labor intensive patches of green, beautiful yet dull and time consuming.  My neighbors are very much loyal to it,  mowing sometimes as often as every other day.  

It was not a good day: the gulf gusher had knocked the wind out of me.  I looked over under the cedar and saw that the deer had been sleeping there.  It was then that I decided to stop mowing my lawn.  

I now have a resident deer and rabbit, many more birds, butterflies and other occasional visitors.  I'm sharing the food and, so far, have been ok with it.  I didn't have a good cherry crop this year but I didn't get any, anyway, the birds made sure of that.  The snails have taken out three of the five cabbage, two zucchini plants and the burdock but the peas were plentiful and I was able to feed myself, five friends, a deer and freeze some, too.

I did have a tinge of irritation when confronting the deer eating my raspberries, though.     

The whole feel of my yard has changed.  I like it better and so far, the neighbors haven't complained.                     

Almost Cut My Lawn

'untitled' 17.5x17"  Kathleen Faulkner

"it happened just the other day

was gettin' kinda long

I could've said it got in my way

but I didn't and I wonder why

I feel like letting my Freak Flag Fly
I feel like I owe it to someone"

 So, in protest of the CORPORATION responsible for the most CATASTROPHIC oil spill in HISTORY,  I've decided to give my lawn to the deer.