Duck, duck, MOOSE!
This morning at 5:42 Hans wakes me up. He's in the shower, toothbrush in hand and mouth full of toothpaste.
"Theum a moose ih thuh crrrk!"
"What"? I reply, tongue thick with sleep.
"A moose. In the creek".
I momentarily weigh the possibility of rolling over and going back to sleep. But then, I haven't seen a moose up close in years. And never in our creek.
Besides, it's my day off and I can go back to bed.
So I grab my glasses and head for the window, rubbing crusty sleep from my eyes. I still can't focus but now I'm desperate to see the moose. It has wandered behind some bushes and is temporarily out of sight. But I watch as the creek ripples in its wake and then I see it, wading down the middle up to its neck in water.
The creek is much deeper than I thought, as I watched only its head navigate the water. It lumbered out near our ridge, tall and leggy as moose are. It's only a yearling, not a full grown cow, but it is impressively big. I watch as her oversized head bends to some bushes and she delicately nibbles the tender young leaves. She appears unconcerned as her big cow eyes look my way. Hans and I are talking in the open dining room window as we observe her and she can hear us, but she senses we are no threat and idly watches us as she continues to eat.
I reach for the binoculars but she moves behind a tree and is hard to see. She has two light coloured lumps in front of her ears and we speculate whether these are budding antlers or nothing at all. But she turns away and heads back to the creek. I've lost my chance for a closeup.
Now, of course, I'm quite awake and decide to make coffee since it's unlikely I'll get more sleep. Hans finishes and heads for work, and after the coffee has filtered through I decided to turn it off and try to slip back into my dream. Half an hour later I realize it's not going to work. *sigh* At least the coffee's hot.
"Theum a moose ih thuh crrrk!"
"What"? I reply, tongue thick with sleep.
"A moose. In the creek".
I momentarily weigh the possibility of rolling over and going back to sleep. But then, I haven't seen a moose up close in years. And never in our creek.
Besides, it's my day off and I can go back to bed.
So I grab my glasses and head for the window, rubbing crusty sleep from my eyes. I still can't focus but now I'm desperate to see the moose. It has wandered behind some bushes and is temporarily out of sight. But I watch as the creek ripples in its wake and then I see it, wading down the middle up to its neck in water.
The creek is much deeper than I thought, as I watched only its head navigate the water. It lumbered out near our ridge, tall and leggy as moose are. It's only a yearling, not a full grown cow, but it is impressively big. I watch as her oversized head bends to some bushes and she delicately nibbles the tender young leaves. She appears unconcerned as her big cow eyes look my way. Hans and I are talking in the open dining room window as we observe her and she can hear us, but she senses we are no threat and idly watches us as she continues to eat.
I reach for the binoculars but she moves behind a tree and is hard to see. She has two light coloured lumps in front of her ears and we speculate whether these are budding antlers or nothing at all. But she turns away and heads back to the creek. I've lost my chance for a closeup.
Now, of course, I'm quite awake and decide to make coffee since it's unlikely I'll get more sleep. Hans finishes and heads for work, and after the coffee has filtered through I decided to turn it off and try to slip back into my dream. Half an hour later I realize it's not going to work. *sigh* At least the coffee's hot.
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