Early this morning, just about daybreak, I opened my front door to see if the morning paper had arrived. What I saw, about ten feet from me, was a deer. I ran to get my camera, but by the time I got back with it, she had moved into the neighbor's yard. I tracked her stealthily, but about the time I crossed into the yard next door, I realized I was wearing a pajama top and bright red bikini panties -- and we have a lot of early-morning joggers. In fact, I could hear footsteps coming around the corner, so I beat a hasty retreat. I did NOT want anyone losing their breakfast in front of my house, or worse, breaking into uncontrollable laughter at the sight.

We have a lot of deer in the area, but they have just started coming onto our street. They are being squeezed out of the woods by construction of a massive container port a couple of miles away. I will spare you the rant I normally go into about the Port of Houston Authority, and this project.

One year we went skiing in Banff Canada, and the town was full of elk. In one town, Jasper, I think, they had to build fences around the trees because the elk were eating everything in sight. They bedded down on the courthouse lawn, and let's just say everything was well fertilized. I love deer, but if they start dining on my plants, will my admiration for them change? After all, when I lived in Waco, some adorable little wild rabbits started munching on my petunias, and overnight became "those damn rodents."

We used to feed our cats outside, until the possum starting lining up at dinnertime. Those things have some long claws, and I've never seen one play possum. They would hiss at me when I swatted them with a broom, and the cats were terrified of them. We also get racoons and armadillo on a regualar basis. So deer sound pretty good by comparison. I guess if they start feeding on my plants, I'll just have to get some corn for them.