Up before the sun. The time, between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., is a silent oasis, a secret interval.

Still thinking of the dead deer I saw on the trip back from Detroit. So soft, so vunerable, so touching in their twisted 'deadness.'

They reminded me of the two deer I saw running through the suburban, Evanston neighborhood one morning on my run. They were running across the freshly manicured lawns on a quiet street. They were large, beautiful, spooky.

It was early morning, there were a few other people out and about. No one else seemed to notice them. I was stunned, it literally took my breath away to encounter such wild, graceful, beings in such 'normal' circumstances. They were quick, they danced past the houses, and before I knew it, they were gone. I was sure they were some kind of magical gift or omen. I carried them with me for days. I took them as evidence of a secret realm which co-existed with the mundane reality where we spend most of our time.

I wanted to keep this other realm with me, inside, always.