Here she is, and isn’t she lovely?

“Oh my God”, I exclaimed to myself when I saw this beautiful creature standing there right in front of me. In fact, my first sense was a feeling that something or someone was watching me. When I looked up there were these big, beautiful  brown eyes staring at me. Dare I say that they touched my soul? They seemed to be asking me, “What are you doing here?” For one short moment, she literally took my breath away.

Recovering from my state of breathlessness, I realized I had a terrific photo opportunity right in front of me so I quickly but quietly raised my camera to take this shot of her hoping this wouldn’t scare her off. It didn’t, and not being satisfied with the first shot, I immediately zoomed in to get a close up of her. Alas, she must have sensed this tiny movement and barely audible sound because like a bolt of lightning she took off into the woods.

I’m sure a more seasoned photographer of nature would have got the perfect shot that I was striving for; however from this brief encounter I realized that when taking pictures of wild animals you have to remain perfectly calm and not hesitate for even a second. I wonder what will be the chances of ever having another opportunity such as this one?

I met up with this doe while walking on a small country road in Seabright, Nova Scotia where I spent much time as a young girl, first with my grandmother and then with an aunt and uncle who basically adopted my brother and me at 10 and 12 years respectively. We spent many weekends in Seabright at “Greenrigs” where my grandmother lived, and later on after she died, at “the camp” which she left to my aunt and uncle on another cove not far away.

“The camp” really was a camp in the true sense of the word. In fact, it was originally my grandmother’s hen coop! It was small and had no running water with an outdoor toilet.  Over the years, my uncle put his carpentry and landscaping skills to work to fashion out  ‘the camp” as we knew it. It was situated on a sheltered cove off the main part of St. Margaret’s Bay so swimming, diving off the wharf, rowing, water skiing, when my uncle could afford a motor boat, fishing, and picnicking on one of the many islands are some memories of my life at “the camp”.

Meeting the doe was a result of my curiosity to see what was now there where “the camp” once was. Some things still remain, such as a railing my uncle built leading down to the wharf and the many trees he planted. The actual building which morphed from the hen coop is there somewhere in the middle of the new monster home the present owners have built. The house and the surrounding property are all beautifully constructed but somehow it just doesn’t fit in to the place we called “the camp”. Could it be that the yachts and the homes are simply too overdone for this little cove?

In spite of the changes and the signs of modern-day progress now so evident in dear old Seabright, I am glad I took the time to revisit this part of my past. My visit turned out to be a memorable one because it not only provided me with meeting the doe,  it also gave me an opportunity to reflect on the best part of my childhood there.

Present day monster home. The original part of “the camp” is to the right behind the pole.

The cove where “the camp” was located.