Deer ones, we are gathered

Remember when we went to Pittsburgh? It was this past March.

When we hatched the plan for our trip and initially began clearing the decks for takeoff, the weather in our destination was forecast as ideal: sunny, in the mid fifties.

But as the day of departure approached, the predicted daily temperatures in Pittsburgh plummeted to somewhere between incredible and ridiculous.

As in, snow, with highs in the mid twenties. Also significant wind chill -- something I dimly remember (as in, I have tried to forget) from many years spent living in the Midwest.

Naturally, even with a fifty-fifty (or better) chance the meteorologists were dead wrong, the latter is the forecast that turned out to be correct.

Since part of our stay in Pitt was to include extensive time touring and photographing a huge historic cemetery -- don't judge -- I was obliged to seriously rethink my traveling wardrobe.

No worries. I still own a suitably warm and subtly glamorous winter coat and all the layers necessary to be outside in authentic winter weather.

Secretly, as I packed, I was excited at the prospect of seeing "up north" snow at a time when, where I live, the first flowers of spring were blooming as though June were in hot pursuit. 

We got on the road mid-morning on departure day and arrived at our hotel after nightfall. After settling in and before bedtime, I glanced outside. A wet snow had begun to slick the parking lot. 

The next morning, I peeked again to find the hundreds of trees on a nearby rolling hill transformed by snow. Everything was white except the sky, which was blue-gray, awash with scudding clouds that hadn't yet said all their piece.

TG had some business to see to in town. I drank coffee, checked all systems go on the cameras, and got ready in a leisurely fashion.

By noon or so we were driving the lanes of the cemetery, casing the joint as it were. The sky was all brilliant blue and white by now, and I was disappointed. I dislike taking pictures in bright midday light, but here was my opportunity and at least the sun kept the temperature up around twenty-five. 

Eventually I saw a monument I simply had to observe at closer range. I got out and began walking while TG parked. 

Within five minutes, gray clouds moved in on the stiff wind and the day became overcast again. For the next two hours, we experienced everything from horizontal sleet to frenetic snow to biting winds to cheerful sun.

It was perfect.

I said to TG that we couldn't have chosen a more ideal day to photograph this cemetery. I must have been touched by an angel because truly? Yes, we could have. The weather was awful.

But its fickleness and the coming-and-going of the dark clouds and spates of precipitation made for a moodiness that one longs for when taking pictures of hundred-plus-year-old tombs. The snaky bare arms of trees were just the counterpoint for the changing sky and endless marmoreal landscape.

In mid afternoon we broke for lunch. Later, all sunny now, blowing snow a memory, we returned for the golden light. It was while on a lane somewhere in the depths of Allegheny Cemetery's three hundred acres that I first saw them.

I had just photographed the massive Boyle monument, clambering like a mountain goat up the knoll on which it stands to catch it from every possible angel angle.

As I stepped back toward the car to ride forward a few hundred yards (it was so cold), TG held the door for me. I was ready to get in when I heard myself sputtering: Deer ... deer ... DEER!

TG answered with the most quizzical expression, like: What ... what ... WHAT?

I realized he thought I was saying dear ... like, the homophone, the endearment. The pronoun. Perfectly understandable.

But I wasn't. I was flabbergasted by the sight, thirty-or-so feet beyond our car's front bumper, of a whole line of deer casually appearing from behind the bulky mausoleum which stands guard over the Boyle angel, and walking across the lane to the graves grazing on the other side.

They were so close. And they ignored us.

I cameraed up and started clicking. TG was still as stone by then, taking in the sight which, no matter how much you think it wouldn't be, is always amazing to see: wildlife simply being wildlife, as though humans -- alive or dead -- neither exist nor matter.

And there is just something about wildlife in a cemetery. Maybe it's the peace. I'll get back to you on that, or having seen these photos, perhaps you will form your opinion of just what it is, that is extra special about this unexpected treat.

We'd already witnessed a gaggle of Canadian geese waddling and pecking; darling to be sure, but not as heart-stopping as deer on the hoof.

I took picture after picture until, satisfied I'd covered the subject, we moved on. I don't remember whether we saw the deer any more that day, except perhaps from a distance.

The next day, we went back. It was even colder than the day before. But as we drove around looking for things we hadn't yet seen, we encountered the deer in even larger numbers. 

While I took more pictures, a man came along the road who seemed to be well acquainted with the deer population. They knew his car and began walking towards him in groups as he slowed. He soon produced buckets of corn, which the deer appropriated as though having ordered takeout and being glad for fast, courteous service.

The man told us he feeds the deer twice a day and has been doing so for many years, at his own expense. He reported that cemetery officials call him when, as had happened that very morning, one of the deer wanders off the reservation and into city traffic (the cemetery is situated in a heavily populated urban area), and gets killed.

He speculated that at least one hundred-fifty deer of all ages make Allegheny Cemetery their home at any given time, having swum the nearby Allegheny River to gain the sanctuary of its vast wooded confines.

He described how they hunker down against tombstones to sleep on cold winter nights, how sometimes unscrupulous hunters enter the cemetery illegally with bow and arrow to kill the deer, and how the bucks' shed antlers are routinely stolen by human scavengers. The does and fawns do the best they can.

While he talked, I kept clicking and wondering what it must be like for a deer family to live out its days in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. If I could, I would have asked one; but they weren't talking.

Still, it was a privilege to meet them on a wintry day in almost-spring, and to photograph them simply being themselves, mostly untouched and unafraid, in their chosen habitat.

And that is all for now.

=0=0=0=

Happy Wednesday

Comments

[Judy]

A wonderful Cemetery AND Deer? You hit the jackpot!!!
Can you even imagine what that monument and Angel would cost in today's market?

[Jennifer]

@Judy ... you're right! It would cost a fortune. Only rich people did it back then, and only rich people do it now. The deer were so great, I'm going back to see them in the fall. I hope. xoxo

[sally]

300 acres of cemetery! Wow, that's amazing, Jenny. No wonder you went back the next day. As you were talking about moving upward, I was sitting here hoping you managed.

Is that the largest cemetery in our country? Well, duh I guess I could go*gle it. LOL

Beautiful deer, and cemetery. I hope you do get back there this fall.

xoxo

[Jennifer]

@Sally ... I was very, very careful! And we saw maybe a fourth of all that's to be seen there. I knew by no means was Allegheny the largest cemetery in the USA, but I was interested by your question to learn which one is. According to some sources, it's Rose Hills Cemetery in Whittier, California -- 1,400 acres. That would take me at least a week. xoxo

[Mari]

Wow! I know that being there in the cold, wind and sleet had to be hard, but all those deer must have helped to make up for it. I'm always thrilled when I see deer and seeing them so close and apparently not frightened must have been quite an experience. It looks like a beautiful cemetery too.

[Luna Crone]

Amazing photos...

And an amazing true story to go with them...

Luna Crone

[Jennifer]

@Mari ... You would have loved it. I wish you could have been there. xoxo

@Luna ... Thanks and yes it was an amazing experience. xoxo

[sally]

1,400 acres!! Whoa That would take me a month as much as I love seeing the old ones. Hey, I know! We could go together. :)

xoxo

[Jennifer]

@Sally ... I would love that! But do I have to fly? Or drive to California? Haaahahaha xoxo