Today it's mainly raining. A summer holiday has taken on the feeling of Christmas, the other time we are usually here. My parents are napping, we guests are staring at computer screens. Father and daughter are trying to compose music together; cooperation is proving tricky.
Yesterday, walking past a whole field full of purple flowers, I surprised a family of deer, a mother and two young ones. The mother ran off into the wood next to the field and one of the young ones followed. The other stood on the narrow band of earth between field and woods, lost. I could feel my memory closing its fingers round the moment, trying not to let go. That morning I'd been out for a walk with my camera. I had another 'deer moment' and just managed to capture it, but the image was disappointing. Not as good as the real thing. This second time round, I was glad I didn't have my camera with me. If I'd tried to capture the moment, I could never have mirrored its emotional power. Instead of watching the young deer figure out which way its mother had gone and, eventually, follow her, I would have been busy clicking and trying to preserve the moment to show to others. Now, it's like a have a very special secret. I'll remember it better because I can't look back at it on a computer screen.
Here are some images I did capture, though, on my walk yesterday morning.
See that deer? It's there, but it looks more like a speck of dust on the lens.
The weather has cleared, so the whole family is off for a walk down the same route I took when I saw the deer family yesterday. This time, there's one thing I think I'd dare say I guarantee. No deer.
