A Tale from Outer Spaces

A note from Paul: I am using illustrations as icons to enhance the story in this post. The drawings are simple and playful, and they support the narrative. While having a video of this little stampede would be amazing, illustrations allow me to recreate events while injecting fun and drama.

It's 2 AM, and I'm peacefully sleeping under the stars at Skyline Wilderness Park in Napa, California. No tent is needed tonight. It's gorgeous.

Then, I'm jolted awake.

The sound of hoofbeats pounding into my ears. I sit up, whip around, and stare at…

…antlers and deer legs, getting closer by the split second: one more instant, and a huge buck veers around me, still running at full speed!

Seconds later, a large white dog blazes over my ground cover, in hot pursuit. I scream at the dog as if he'd care. It felt like someone should get yelled at after a near trampling by a mini deer stampede.

"Zzzzzzip!" Gabi is awake now and in the doorway of her tent a few feet away. Hours earlier, she and I laughed about people's odd confidence when they are inside a tent. Are we really any safer in our Nylon castles? A chainsaw or bear claws can go through tent walls like butter. But how about mini deer stampedes? I suppose I'll be a speed bump in those cases.

The buck bound over a fence and into the tree line. The dog ran at me several times, and I yelled again. I think he simply wanted to talk about how he ALMOST caught the buck.

Total elapsed time? About two minutes. Adventure!