Stories
My Lord, Holy

EP 10 · My Lord, Holy

Texas Hill Country — Deer at Dusk

Every evening they come out of the tree line and cross our yard — and we have learned to share the dusk with them, quietly, from a distance.

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A young white-tailed deer standing in a grassy Texas yard at dusk, looking straight at the camera, with the rest of the herd spread out behind it among the oaks

The Evening Neighbours

On the edge of the Texas Hill Country, where the Austin suburbs thin out into oak and grass, the day runs a second shift. As the light goes down, white-tailed deer come out of the tree line and into the open: a whole herd, filing along the fence, heads down to graze, then up again at every small sound. Our yard is on their route — clearly it has been since long before it was ours. Some evenings there are only two or three of them. This evening the whole herd came: spread out across the grass, crossing in single file, in no hurry at all.

A young white-tailed deer standing in a grassy Texas yard at dusk, looking straight at the camera, with the rest of the herd spread out behind it among the oaks
One of them stops and looks back — a quiet hello.

Dusk is their hour. White-tailed deer are crepuscular — most active at dawn and dusk — and a herd does not roam far: Texas Parks & Wildlife notes that deer tend to stay within about a square kilometre all year round. Which means these are not visitors passing through. They are locals, and this yard is part of their small home range. Living alongside them comes down to one simple rule, and the wildlife people state it plainly: watch, but do not feed, and do not approach. Feeding makes deer lose their fear of people and pulls them toward roads and trouble; getting close helps nobody. So we keep our distance, and they keep theirs. That is the whole arrangement — and it works.

That is the part I keep thinking about. We come out at the same hour — us onto the porch, them onto the grass — both of us taking the cool of the evening, both of us out for a walk. We do not interfere with each other. Now and then one of them stops, turns, and looks straight at us for a long moment. It is not fear, exactly, and not curiosity either. It feels like an exchange of glances — a nod between neighbours, a small sign: I see you; carry on. People and nature, living in peace. People and animals, never invading each other's space, sharing one world made by God. Peaceful coexistence — a shared hour.

Watching them cross, an old line comes back to me: the world does not lack beauty — what it lacks is eyes that look for it. And it is true. Open your heart, and you will find that the beautiful things are right beside you. All of this was never more than a few steps from our back door.

"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." — Genesis 1:31 (KJV)
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EP 09 · Los Cabos — Golden Hour on the Rocky ShoreSister series · Faith Through TravelThe Next Generation Sings — Sunday worship filmed from the back row of our church: young voices, one song, every Sunday night.

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  10. EP 10Texas Hill Country — Deer at DuskEvery evening they come out of the tree line and cross our yard — and we have learned to share the dusk with them, quietly, from a distance.