Baby deer and mama in the apple orchard

As much as I hate to think the word ‘drought’ in case I’m creating more reality to it with my thoughts, we are experiencing the driest summer I can remember in my twenty-four years in Northern California. The grass is so dry in the orchard, that it crunches underfoot when I walk between the trees.

The old apple trees are alright since I put in drip irrigation six years ago–you can see the green ring around them, but in between the ground is parched and brown.

All the animals are having trouble finding food. The deer come and munch the green around our apple trees and we put out banana peels for them and melon rinds­, things that don’t compost well and that are treats for them.

There’s a mama deer and two baby ‘bambies’ who visit from time to time. Yesterday I was able to snap a few photos as they ambled through the lower orchard. It has been several weeks since I spotted them. The babies were brand new then and they have grown so much, but are still gangly and staying close to their mother.

Here are a few glimpses of them from yesterday.

Think rain!