The other night as my husband & I left to go out to eat, he glanced across our backyard and said, "What the---?" Then, he told me not to look, to get in the car, and he'd tell me.

Our neighbors had a dead deer hanging in their backyard.

Now, first of all, I don't live in the country. I live on a major road downtown where the houses are old, and some are divided into apartments. The house next door where the deer was has 4 apartments, I believe. Second of all, I know that some of you know that I'm a pesca-vegetarian, but I've only been one for nearly a year. However, even if I was still eating meat, I would have found the site of a dead deer very upsetting. I'm just tenderhearted like that. Always have been.....which really is part of why I stopped eating anything with feet & fur.

Thanks to my husband, I did not see this poor creature hanging on the way out of the house that night nor on the way back in after dinner.

So here we are days later. I'm at home alone with my cat, and I slide her kitty tower over in front of the bedroom window so she can look out at the birds & squirrels. I glanced out the window to see what sites she may be able to take in, and there were two men right at the edge of our yard in the back. A split second later, I saw the deer. The image is burned in my mind. I would much rather have seen it the other night methinks when it still had fur & meat on it. What I saw this morning was like chicken bones.

Let me say here that I'm not judging meat eaters. Honestly. I'm really not judging hunters either. Someone has to kill the meat if meat eaters are going to eat it. My problem is with the meat industries inhumane conditions for the animals and horrific methods of slaughter......but that's another story. Today, I take issue with the fact that my neighbor has a dead deer carass hanging in his back yard within sight of my house. It's his right, yes, but it just seems a little barbaric.

When I see deer on the side of the road nibbling at grass, they are so incredibly beautiful. I couldn't imagine killing them. My deer viewing opportunites are few & far between because I'm always on the way somewhere when I see them. I would love to be able to just stop and watch them do their little deer thang.

It actually makes me sad when I see deer crossing signs. Do you know what that says to me? It says that we are taking away too much of the deers' homeland and pushing them into surburban areas that are unsafe for them. I don't know what the answer is. I'm certainly am no judge of how many more shopping centers, office buildings, neighborhoods, and apartment complexes we need in this area. But, if you look around, there is freaking construction everywhere. I drove to the 'Canes game last night from work and saw more construction in RTP, Morrisville, & Cary than you would believe. 55 is being widened. Entire forests are gone along Davis Drive and Old Chapel Hill Road. Lots of old homes sit up on blocks to be moved or sit abandoned, poised for destruction. Sometimes, I couldn't tell where I was because the surroundings looked so unfamilar.

I really don't know how to end this because I have opened so many cans of worms. All I know is that.....

I don't like the sight of dead deer.
I HATE traffic and congestion.
I'm not thrilled with "progress" sometimes when it's in the form of stripping the land & then building more.
I don't like seeing what, to me, says that the world is speeding up, instead of slowing down.

Sometimes, I think that I should have lived in a simplier time. Maybe I should have been a Pilgrim or a peasant. Maybe I should go live in a commune or become a monk.

Do you ever feel like saying "Stop the world, I want to get off?"

I shared my Boca burger dinner with my cat tonight. Cracks me up that she likes them.

I've worked nearly about 22 hours in the past two days trying to catch up at work.

Just got back from vacation in Chicago visiting my sister & family. Had a blast! Saw a Blackhawks game, and they won! Ate breakfast Saturday at the Walnut Room at Marshall Field's/Macy's with my niece's girl scout troupe. Went to Christkindlmarket ( www.christkindlmarket.com ) and drank yummy warm spiced wine and shopped the craft booths. My brother used to send lots of stuff home when he was stationed in Germany so a lot of it looked familar. Didn't buy anything but some sugar cinnamon covered almonds. I swear that I could absolutely OD on those things. We went to the Art Institute, and I really enjoyed seeing the Medieval art and some of the Impressionistic art. It's unbelieveable what people can do with dots. Lastly, we had front row tickets for Blue Man Group, and I was totally blown away. I really had little idea what exactly BMG was so it made it all the more delightful and surprising. All that in only 4 1/2 days. :)

It's been weird not going to derby practice anymore, but somehow it still feels right for me right now. It's bittersweet really. I really miss skating though, and I miss the bitches that I skated with.

My cat is turning 20 in April, and, if she makes it to then (if the Gods will it!), I'm throwing her a huge party!! She really enjoyed staying with my parents while we were in Chicago. She loves to go to Grandmother & Granddaddy's.

I'm thinking of volunteering at the SPCA again. I've missed it all year since my usual shift conflicted with derby. I miss the kitties though. There is nothing like hanging out in a room full of cats.

I'm toying with the idea of *finally* taking a yoga class. It is something that I've really wanted to do for quite some time now, but I've only had a random class here or there.

Peace out.