rut

Assiniboine Forest, Wpg, MB. November 8, 2014. Photo by Mike Deal.

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We'd planned to go for a walk in the forest with M but discovered, once we were out in the world, that I was cold. Chilled even. We were already halfway across the city, so we stopped at a Winners in the hopes of finding a hat and mitts...

In the toppling mounds of things at Winners, I snagged a pair of faux-fur mitts but the only hat I could find was a $35 knit cap. Which was about five times what I'd been hoping to pay, so I walked down Pembina to Giant Tiger. Again, nothing that wasn't Jets merch, but I found a cheap vest.

And so, now half-dressed for the weather, we went walking. But my head was still cold, and I was pulling one loop of my woolly infinity scarf up over my hair when we saw it: a buck chasing a doe across the meadow.

There was couple ahead of us on the path. And it so took M's "Hey, look at that!" for them to look up and see them.

As soon as the deer plunged into the aspens at the far edge of the meadow, the couple marched off. M and I walked a bit more slowly...and saw the male swinging his candelabra five feet into the trees, watching us. (The female was a bit further away but we located her too...)

M was cold too, so we did a quick loop. But the light was lovely and so were the deep lungfuls of forest, and the clubhouses/killing games we indulged in afterwards helped in the creature-comfort department.

Of course, I dropped the faux-fur mitts getting out of the car at The Garwood. I scooped them up while opening my door but M saw me and cracked wise, something about me already losing my new mitts.

And that was the kind of day it was.