I’m not sure what it is about me and mother nature lately, but I have enjoyed some wonderful encounters as of late. Earlier this week a deer crossed my path on Sheridan Road just south of the Carthage campus (photos available at Pretty Good Pix) – then I caught some wonderful images of mother geese and their young ones (one shot also on Pretty Good Pix) – and then yesterday, we had a bunny in the corner of our yard, and that bunny had Ellie and Bobbi transfixed for the longest time. . . but because of our invisible fence, they knew better than to go anywhere near the periphery of the yard. But it sure was cute and I caught some cool shots of that.
But even all of those encounters with Mother Nature did not prepare me for what happened late this afternoon. I had just finished up rehearsal with three Chamber Singer alums- Megan Dieschbourg, Trevor Parker and Paul Marchese- and we were just exchanging pleasantries in the kitchen when Megan let out a whoop about something in the backyard. Just like a seasoned photojournalist (“Shutter SureShot Berg” they should call me) I grabbed the camera and started snapping pictures of this gorgeous deer which appeared out of nowhere in our backyard. It stayed there for the longest time, as Bobbi and Ellie barked their heads off frantically as though Godzilla himself was paying us a visit. (I think this may be the first time that I’ve heard both of our dogs barking simultaneously; almost always it’s one dog barking while the other one sort of nods in agreement, as if not wanting to tax her throat. But today they were both barking as if all of our lives were hanging in the balance.) Finally, the deer took off – and it was Megan who watched it eventually safely cross Braun Road – the road just to the south of us, just past the house in the photo- and go into those woods, safe and sound.
And the four of us were left with a stunning little moment of breathtaking beauty and exhilarating surprise.