Under the Apple Tree
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I currently live on a small farm in what once was farm country but has slowly morphed into the land of McMansion housing developments and strip malls.
With "progress" comes the bulldozing of acres and acres of land. This past summer land was cleared for a new drugstore and a small herd of deer were consequently displaced.
I am the last tract of open land and the herd came to live on my property.
Summer evenings I would sit on my back porch, watching the horses eat their dinners and the deer munching on the apples from the apple trees. Those evenings always made me feel that "life was good."
As I went out to the pasture one morning in September to feed the horses, I found this poor soul dead under the apple trees.
At first, I was horrified. The apple trees have always been a "good" place. A place were the deer and I were safe. Having this fawn die under the trees seemed all wrong.
The fawn had a wound on one of her hind legs that seemed to be an older wound and she probably died from infection. She didn't appear to have been hit by a car, just the victim of natural consequences.
The more I thought about discovering her under the apple trees, the more I came to the conclusion that my little spot of green, buried in the concrete world of "progress" had offered the fawn a safe and quiet place to pass on.....the same sort of safe and quiet solace that it offers me.
12 Responses
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On 19 March 2008 Devin Hayes gave props:
beautiful.. great story. thanks.
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On 20 March 2008 Megan Haslup gave props:
This made me cry. It's so sad... a gorgeous photograph, but extremely sad.
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On 20 March 2008 Lisa Pitcher said:
Hey Megan- At first, I was very upset about the fawn. I felt that I had promised the deer a safe place to be and that somehow I had failed.
But then I realized that for me, the bigger sadness is the fact that my community just keeps on paving over the deer's habitat. The balance that Mother Naure demands has been totally ignored.....and those consequences will ultimately be the my biggest sadness. -
On 20 March 2008 Brian Hagy said:
Great shot. The apple for some reason makes this seem fairy tale-ish and surreal. Love the perspective.
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On 20 March 2008 Kathy Hardin gave props:
that was a very nice story, and it's so true the more we build the less land there is for Gods creatures
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On 21 March 2008 Arndt said:
Thank you for the detailed story behind the photograph. Such a meaningful, true, and very sad tale. I voted and hope this gets printed. I spent some time in Eastern North Carolina as of late and the deer flocks I feel are in the losing streak ultimatelyl for the exact reasons you've just described.
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On 21 March 2008 Trey Hill said:
i'm speechless... beautiful image meets touching story.
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On 23 March 2008 Jayme Lester gave props:
You made it's death almost beautiful. excellent piece.
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On 26 March 2008 Paul Lavallee gave props:
sad, but amazing capture
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On 4 April 2008 Cora D. Mitchell said:
Heartbreaking. thanks for expaining it detail to the us, the viewers. It's so unfortunate ..but an extremely "touching" capture. Thank you.
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On 8 April 2008 jessica wright said:
really touching. wonderfully thoughtful story and a perfect representation. i really appreciate the way you photographed the deer too...how the focus is not on the face... and how its clearly passed away even though we see no blood or upset. perfect compostion and capture. all the right details included in all the right ways.
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On 4 November 2008 Gina Brining gave props:
Thanks for explaining the photo. It's so sad, and good for the category. It's a nice photo.
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