"Navigating change"

LowTide Morning - October 20, 2018

"Navigating change"

David signals me, "We have a big buck in our backyard!"

I scan the yard, and sure enough, there he is sporting a rack of antlers. He wanders between the yard and the edge of our meadow. A couple of does with fawns used to hang out in the meadow when David fed them apples for breakfast—a B&B of sorts. Bad idea.

I watch the buck amble through my landscape nibbling on low hanging tree leaves. He's in no hurry.

I worry that he is heading toward the road and hope his mother taught him to look both ways before crossing. So many have not learned that lesson well. You hit this big boy with your car, and it will be more than a fender bender.

Why is this majestic buck passing through our subdivision?

It occurs to me that, similar to Hurricane Michael, developers decimated land at the end of Lora Smith Road to build another subdivision—elimination of more habitat. What's a buck to do? It's not like we give deer a 30-day notice so they can find a new home before we level their current home. They come home one day and, "Bam," it's gone—like the summer before my husband's senior year in high school.

David spent the summer working in a youth camp, teaching horseback riding, among other things. Good times. When his parents showed up to bring him home, they had a little announcement: "We aren't going home to Tallahassee; we are moving to Atlanta." Bam! Just like that. Perhaps subconsciously, David empathizes with the misplaced deer when he tosses apples to them as they pass through our backyard.

David survived the change. Wildlife often find new habitat. I trust the hurricane victims will rebuild.

In a conference this week, our opening keynote inspired us to navigate change and build resilience by transitioning our comfort zones into challenge zones.

Could it be that navigating change builds resilience? I hope so. Change is in the air.

~ LowTide explorer, Carolyn Fjeran

[LowTide is an eclectic collection of discoveries and reflective writings.]