Deer!

One of the many things that makes Muskie Man a proud daddy is the fact that one of the first words Minnow said is the word “deer”—as in the animal. A favorite hobby of Muskie Man is deer hunting, second to fishing. Many hours are spent reading hunting magazines and watching hunting shows. (We even have to pay a few dollars a month extra on our cable bill so he can get the Outdoor and Sportsman channels.)

Minnow sees deer on TV or on a magazine cover and exclaims: “deer!” She also gets excited about the deer head that is mounted and hanging in our basement. This deer head has become kind of a family mascot and is affectionately named Charlie. If Minnow is in a crabby mood, which doesn’t happen too often, we just take her downstairs to see Charlie and all is well in her little world.

Many an hour are spent with Minnow’s little face pressed up against our windows, staring out at our backyard, looking for deer. We regularly have deer passing through our backyard, pausing to eat leaves and grass. Minnow gets very excited when she sees deer in our backyard. She starts rapping her little hands on the window and saying “deer” over and over again and practically jumping up and down. The picture is Minnow and two of her cousins watching deer in the backyard.

Minnow even spots the deer before we do sometimes. One afternoon she was getting all excited, standing by the window, saying "deer" over and over again. Muskie Man asked me if there were any deer in the backyard, I looked out the window and didn't see anything. Sure enough a minute or two later, two deer appear from the brush at the edge of our property. What any eye for wildlife little Minnow has! Muskie Man is so proud of his little outdoors-child.